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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28557249">The Ferrokana Affair</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ulturac/pseuds/ulturac'>ulturac</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon Divergence - Star Wars Expanded Universe, F/M, Original Character(s), Pre-Solo: A Star Wars Story, Pre-Star Wars: A New Hope</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-11 00:47:46</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>25,561</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28557249</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ulturac/pseuds/ulturac</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Seven years after the formation of the Empire, a former Jedi finds himself on a remote planet embroiled in a seemingly unending civil war. He finds that he is the one who the people of this mysterious planet have been waiting for. He must unite the people of this planet and rally them to end the civil war and help them achieve independence from a cruel empire. He will soon become a hero of legends!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The Sword</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I have not finished writing this story, this is the first of many. it introduces the Magguffin that the story focuses on as well as the main character, Cig (whose name is actually Ci'goros). As of posting this, I have thirty-one pages written on my personal word doc. Within the next few months, I will continue to work on it and post chapters as time permits. I hope you all like it and can give me some critiques whenever possible. Lastly, I will rate this as "mature" because it already has depictions of graphic violence, as of writing this post. It will continue to have the same level, or slightly greater, of graphic content in the future since I see the civil war as a long drawn out affair in which both sides are getting desperate to end it at this point and, in many cases, believe that the ends justify the means.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>
    <em>Holo-Journal Entry 1255: Day 2645 of [Exile](?)</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>I feel like I’ve been losing track of the days lately. They go by so fast and I never have enough time to fully appreciate the finer points of my life. I think the reason for this because I’ve been moving from place to place quite quickly. All of the planets I have visited have radically different days and years than my home, Coruscant. I also find that I can’t stay on a planet long enough to appreciate it. I feel like I can’t escape the Empire. They seem to be following me closer than I want to be followed.</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>I hope I fit here. I need to fit here. I need to settle, to live my life, to move on. I want to put the Empire and my time as a Jedi in that forsaken war far behind me. Master Draco was always wise on these things, I wish he was here, we could run together and cover each other. </em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>I have a strong feeling of familiarity with this place. Ever since I arrived yesterday, I have been overcome by this familiarity.  </em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>[End]</em>
  </strong>
</p><p><em>Beep.</em> The bright sunlight of early morning glowed upon the elegant, greenish-yellow body of the recording device. The recording was saved, and a green light began to flash. A hand pressed the button next to the light and moved up and away. It closed into its small, dynamically compact form. The hand picked it up and put it into an equally elegant bag.</p><p>The human who the hand belonged to, Cig Dollmar, collected the bag and closed it tightly with its straps. Cig stared at the bag for a few moments. <em>You’ve gotten me through almost six-and-a -half years of my life. They have been the worst. Please, let this planet be the end. </em>Cig thought, almost tearing up. <em>All of my good friends, dead. I wish the war never happened. I wish that the Empire never came. </em></p><p>Cig was alone. Cig picked up the bag and hugged it. He looked to his right, trees, green and brown just like any other world he’d visited which was like his favorite world, Alderaan. He slowly panned his head to the left. He looked across the small checkpoint in front of him and the “<em>Welcome to Karkodia” </em>next to it. To his far left, lay a town. It seemed quaint from where he stood. He would soon find out what surprises the town held when he walked inside it.</p><p>Cig stood up and rotated, facing away from the checkpoint. He looked into the forest and remembered the planet Alderaan. From making a hobby out of exploring forests as a child and younger man, Cig noticed the forest’s sheer size. He imagined it was an expansive and dense area of green trees and colorful plants. He even imagined many animals living there, enough to try new meat each day.</p><p>Cig’s face was covered in a thick black beard, which he had been growing for what felt like ten months. It could have been longer or even shorter. Most of the planets he had travelled through in the past five or so years. Had shorter days than Coruscant and he felt that had been a total wanderer. He felt like he was in for something interesting by going into the forest, but he needed to make a living first since the forest might not have any wildlife worth his time.</p><p>On the other hand, Cig could easily be found out and eventually get pushed off planet if he did not keep a low profile in town. Either that, or he was finally going to be good at lying to get himself out of the trouble of once being a Jedi. After all, Master Draco had been the man who taught him espionage tactics. He had not mastered <em>taking cover, </em>Master Draco’s word for keeping a low profile in the face of an undercover mission, by this point. He was always open for changing that, though.</p><p>Cig rubbed his beard and entered intense thought. <em>I may be able to live in the forest for a few days, but I may not want to survive. But if I go to the town, I could make friends, get a job, and have consistent food. I can always make friends and come to this forest later on with them. They may know this forest better than I could ever know it. I should probably just go into town. </em>His contemplating came to the sort of abrupt end that many of the battles he had fought in as a Jedi General—It was over before anything deep or interesting could be brought into his mind. Cig rubbed his beard again and agreed internally with his final thought, he would move into town first.</p><p>He turned about halfway to his right. He looked down at the weapon laying on the ground. “What, a vibrosword? This was never here when I stopped last night!” Cig looked over his shoulders repeatedly. Nobody was around. This was quite curious, maybe he slept soundly through a robbery perpetrated by professional mercenaries. On the other hand, maybe not. It may have just been dropped casually for him to find.</p><p>The blade looked elegant. It was long. It seemed like a typical vibrosword. The only thing that stood out to Cig as different from other swords he’d seen before was that it was engraved with a dragon. The dragon’s body and tail filled most of the sword’s blade. Th only parts of the blade lacking the dragon were small border areas at the edges of the blade. The back of the blade was the same.</p><p><em>Wow, I found some great art! There must be some sort of sheath here somewhere. </em>Cig thought. Cig took a couple of steps to the back of the tree he was leaning on before. Something called out to him, something that was cold and dark. He almost did not want to look at it. He felt the deaths of hundreds of people all at once. <em>Skewered and electrocuted to death, ugh. </em>He thought. He tried not to visualize that. He could not help seeing so many people fade to black when he closed his eyes. He reluctantly picked up the item in front of him—a sheath that most likely was designed for the sword he found.</p><p>He took for granted that his old lightsaber, which he carried in his shoulder bag, automatically sheathed itself. That was much simpler and more convenient than the one he was faced with. All luckiness aside, Cig figured that he could sheath the sword and take it into town and ask around and see if anyone knew anything about it. He picked up the sheath and gritted hid teeth. The residual darkness of the sheath was getting to him. He quickly flipped the blade of the sword to match the subtle curve of the sheath.</p><p><em>Ugh, that was painful. </em> Cig thought, as the feelings of pain and suffering were silenced to the point where they were like distant echoes, deep in a cave,</p><p>The utility belt Cig wore had magnetic clips. He had a spot for it, on his left side, where his lightsaber would have gone back when he was a knight. He looked for an area on sheath to rest it on the clip. He found a small impression on the side that made the sword’s subtle curve face up in the air. Cig patted the newly sheathed and fastened sword. It had decent weight and felt good on his waist.</p><p>It had been a long time since Cig had any type of sword fastened to his waist. He patted his right-waist to make sure everything was present. <em>Hmm, my blaster, my credits and my crystal. I still have everything I brought along. </em>Since he had already looked through his bag moments ago, thus he knew he had all he wanted to bring along with him. He was ready to move along and explore the town fate had provided him.</p><p>He hoped all of the citizens of this obscure world he almost wasn’t able to locate on the map in his ship were not hostile and could communicate with him. Looking at the sign the checkpoint donned made Cig optimistic. It was written in Aurebesh, the default script of Galactic Basic.</p><p>Cig began walking down the path to enter town. He made a realization after a few steps; the buildings were taller than a wall that must’ve been made to protect the city. He didn’t see this over the trees that obscured the winding path he walked. He continued to walk.</p><p>The path was lined with trees and occasional lights embedded in the ground for night walkers. Having an almost two-meter stride, he calculated that, if they were spaced uniformly, the lights would be about eight meters apart. He also took note that the bulbs that emitted the light must have produced a yellow hue similar to the sun above him. He knew this because of extensive repairing and tinkering with light bulbs as a Padawan.</p><p>…</p><p>Cig made it to the wall. Well, there was a small moat protecting the wall. He noticed there was a watchtower that extended a couple of stories above the wall. There was someone sitting inside it too, however, this person was not human or near-human. The creature looked like a green lizard <em>A Trandoshan, A sleeping Trandoshan on guard duty. </em>Cig thought while having a laugh. The trandoshan was quite intimidating to him, as the scaly, yellow-green creature was one whose species was known to hunt Jedi out in the galaxy and hunt them for fun on their planets during the times before Order 66. Cig was weary of the Trandoshan, but he had to get its attention.</p><p>Cig quickly looked around. He saw a medium-sized pebble on the floor near the true to his right. He picked it up and pitched it towards the wooden base of the watchtower. When it hit, it disturbed the peaceful relative silence of the area near Cig with a loud thud.</p><p>The Trandoshan animated to life, startled b the rock’s thud. He quickly looked over both of his shoulders twice and then found Cig down and to his left. He slapped a button and the glass between him and Cig opened. He let out a snake-like hiss and glared at Cig, annoyedly.</p><p>“What have you interrupted my s-ss-sssss-lumber for, human scum?”</p><p>“I have been travelling around the galaxy, my fair Trandoshan, and I have come across your world. I parked my ship in an airfield to that-a-way,” Cig said pointing a thumb in back of him, “I would like safe passage through your town. I need food and water, as I have been walking two days and have almost run out of the essentials. I have never been to this world in my life. Please let me find supplies and find the owner of this sword.” He unfastened the sword from his hip and held it up in the air.</p><p>The Trandoshan’s mouth went agape. “You are a legend! You must see the bard and the master of Gysol’s tavern! I will let you in.”</p><p>The bridge lowered and the Trandoshan welcomed Cig to Karkodia.</p><p>As Cig walked across the bridge, he had his first taste of both the town’s diversity in life forms and its interesting architecture. The street was also a walkway for a conglomerate of diverse species. From where he was standing, he saw a bustling town. <em>This must be the main street. If I’m lucky the town square may come up soon.</em> Cig was surprised at just how many species he was seeing in this town, from humanoids like Twi’Leks of all varieties and Mirialans, green with their distinct face tattoos, to humans, to many of the different odd,non-human, aliens of the galaxy he would see around. This place would definitely give Coruscant a run for its money.</p><p>Cig noticed that the buildings were also quite odd, comparing to the other worlds that he had been on. They appeared more colorful and less homogenous than those of other worlds. This may have possibly came from the fact they may well be made for their function or user’s social class. Maybe that, or they were made to be customized by their user to a greater degree than those of other worlds.</p><p>Cig leaned on the wall near the entrance to the city. He was relaxed, admiring the melting pot of people in town.</p><p>…</p><p>Cig stood there, as if waiting for someone to meet him in that exact spot. He knew no one in town, all he knew was that he wanted to stay a relative outsider for a while longer. For when he went to look for the bar the Trandoshan suggested, he would be labelled a local hero. <em>I’m not ready to be a hero again. I don’t want to set off the Empire here. I want to retire in peace. </em>Cig thought, as he reluctantly angled himself back upright.</p><p>Just as Cig was ready to be on his way, someone came out of nowhere and challenged him. “What do you think you’re doing here, punk? You think you can just come into <em>our</em> town and take <em>our</em> relic?” asked a clearly inebriated Zabrak male. His golden brown horns glowed atop his head and his crimson skin radiant in the sunlight.</p><p>“I’m just as puzzled as you are about what has happened today. I’m just a traveler trying to see the galaxy.”</p><p>“D-don’t play coy with me, punk. You have this aura to you. You stole the relic.” The Zabrak belched under his breath.</p><p>“The relic found me, <em>My Fair Zabrak</em>. Now please don’t give me any trouble in returning it to its proper owners. Good day to you.”</p><p>The Zabrak got closer. He was ready to draw his hand and fight. Cig saw it coming. He unfastened the sword. He grabbed the sheath end and pressed the hilt against the Zabrak’s chest. Cig’s face quickly turned from confusion to disgust.</p><p>“Come any closer and you will definitely get hurt!” Cig exclaimed.</p><p>“No! You will!” the Zabrak quipped back. He erroneously moved forward. Cig cocked his arm backward and slammed the hilt into the Zabrak’s chest. This action pushed the Zabrak off balance and caused searing pain. The Zabrak, hunched forward, began to charge at Cig in a headbutt. Cig threw his foot out, Kicking the Zabrak in the crotch.</p><p>The Zabrak clutched his chest and squirmed on the floor. He screamed incomprehensible taunts to Cig and seemed to be cursing at him in a foreign language. Cig fastened the sword back to his belt. He was hesitant to give up his supply of remedies to unworthy people, however, something was telling him that he should and that this Zabrak would help him in the future only if <em>he </em>helped him now.</p><p>Cig dug through his pockets and groped for a certain green root he picked up on a planet a few jumps ago. “This is Bijandori, a root from planet Sodani that counteracts drunkenness. Cut it up and dissolve it in a tea. Sleep after drinking the tea. You will be normal after the sleep.” Cig said, as he handed the three-leafed green plant from his back pocket.</p><p>“Why, why are you doing this? I lost, you--you should leave me here. I should collect myself.” The Zabrak said in shock at the action Cig took.</p><p>“Take it, it’s the least I could do for someone I may meet again in a different circumstance. Please take it.” Cig said crossly.</p><p>“Meet again in a different circumstance? What in blazes do you mean?”</p><p>“My instincts tell me that you’re a talented warrior sober and that this sword will bring us together. Now, please, sober up.”</p><p>The Zabrak looked up at Cig with a look of disgust and intrigue. His lips trembled, as if he wanted to say something but couldn’t manage to muster the courage to say it. The Zabrak pulled the plant forcefully from Cig’s hand with searing eyes. The Zabrak slowly got on his feet. He was hunched forward, grasping his chest.</p><p><em>Why is he angry for me doing the honorable thing? </em>Cig thought.</p><p>The feelings of disgust and confusion of the moment were just that—momentary. As the Zabrak walked toward the horizon, Cig also looked to be on his way.</p><p>Cig chose to go down the main passage through town. He walked briskly through the street while admiring the buildings around him and browsing the occasional street vendor. Some vendors sold either fruits or vegetables, while others sold cooked foods or regular household supplies. One thing was constant however, the fact that everyone on the side of the street the sword faced looked at Cig with a look of surprise and excitement.</p><p>One vendor, about five whole houses, or sixty-eight strides down the road, was selling fruits that Cig enjoyed eating. They were ripe and pure. The large, round, spiny, orange-yellow fruits called to Cig’s appetite. He faced towards the fruit stand and changed the direction of his walking.</p><p>As he neared the stand, the vendor spoke. “Greetings tall one! How many Meiluruns would you like?”</p><p>“I’d like two. Am I allowed to pick them myself? In some places around here, the markets pick for you.” Cig responded.</p><p> “Well, no, tall one. I will allow you to choose your favorite two Meiluruuns!”</p><p>“Hmm, may I pick them up and pay you after?” Cig asked.</p><p>“Sure, you may shop at my stand however you like.”</p><p>“Thank you. Stores in your sector of space are all so different. Most of them are derivatives of the traditional galactic meat market. They don’t let you feel the fruits. Feeling is a major quality of fruts that I look for. “Cig said to the vendor, as he felt the spines on the fruits.</p><p>“Hmm I’d like to go off planet sometime. I truthfully haven’t been off planet.” The vendor said while rubbing his chin.</p><p>“Yes, these two, these two are the best ones you have! How much do they cost?”</p><p>“You like them, that will be 20 Dorn.” The vendor said.</p><p>“Do you exchange Galactic Credits? That’s all I have.” Cig asked.</p><p>“Well, their value is weak out here. I can’t guarantee you’ll have enough to make the transaction.”</p><p>“Give me a moment, please.” Cig turned slightly and pt one hand in a pocket. He moved his right hand slightly and the left side of his body. This action exposed the sword to the vendor’s eyes. “On second thought, I see you’re a great warrior. I think these fruits are on the house.” The vendor awkwardly amended himself.</p><p>“Thank you for your kindness. If I may ask, what is this about me being a great warrior?” Cig had genuine curiosity about the story behind the sword and why everyone had been telling him that he was some sort of great warrior. He was just an average Jedi after all. Far less powerful than Anakin Skywalker. Cig wished he could spar with Anakin or even his padawan Ahsoka. He heard from his friends that Ahsoka was just as fierce as Anakin, all the while being more acrobatic than any human could ever be.</p><p>“Well the sword you carry is said to only come to those who deserve it—those who have immense power and can bring peace to our lands.”</p><p>“I was told that by the gatekeeper. Where is the tavern he speaks of? I think it’s run by a Gysol.”</p><p>“It exists, but it doesn’t belong to Gysol anymore. He died a few months ago. It belongs to his daughter Freiar now.”</p><p>“Where can I find this tavern? I want to get there before the day ends.”</p><p>“You will see the tavern in the town square, right up this street. You’ll know it when you see it, it’s a very busy place.”</p><p>“Thank you for the fruit and the intel on my goal. Hopefully you have a nice day!” Cig said, bowing slightly.</p><p>Cig picked up his fruit and walked away. He quickly took a bite of one meilurrun and savored this taste. The sweet, sour and stingy fruit took Cig to a happy place. Fond memories of childhood on Coruscant ensued. He remembered how he would go with either Master Draco or other masters and small groups of younglings to produce vendors and pick up fruits before large feasts would occur at the Temple. During these excursions Cig loved to head to a certain vendor who sold only meiluruuns with his friends Cal Kemrik and Dalia Salmora, Mika Dalrik, and later his padawan friend, Lars Doseric. Each of them would take turns attempting to scare the vendor about his license to sell fruit being revoked and other things related to his ability to sell. His reactions were priceless each and every time.</p><p><em>Hmm, I wonder what became of Dal and Cal in the Ag. I wonder if Lars is still alive. </em>Cig thought, as he enjoyed his meiluruuns.</p><p>…</p><p>It took nearly another nine hours for Cig to find the tavern. He was preoccupied with seeing the entirety of the city before the tavern. By this time, he had entered most of the shops and met lots of people. He had come to the conclusion that this town was even more welcoming than he originally expected. He had been through many shops that were <em>heinously</em> welcoming. They continually offered him food or consumables for his benefit. He took some of I, but those who he turned down pestered him with even more persistent offers. Quite a few people seemed to have a lucky day, benefiting off of his material excess.</p><p>…</p><p> Cig glanced over his left shoulder, finding an inn, or what looked like it. He could only read around half of the signage in the city. The predominant script in this town was a form of New Mandalorian, rather than Basic Aurebesh, at least that was what Cig thought. This planet did seem to be an old Mandalorian colony on the outskirts of the ancient empire. He looked to his other shoulder and saw the tail of a line of people. He quickly jumped at the opportunity to ask if this was the tavern.</p><p>“Is this the line for Gysol’s tavern? A grocer told me that the place is ridiculously busy.” Cig asked an Aqualish, a black-furred alien with eyes like black gems and lacking a proper mouth. The Aqualish opened its mouth and made incomprehensible sounds with his throat. Cig was confused. A proper man looked behind himself to see Cig.</p><p>“So, you’re here for Gysol’s too? Have you been here before?” The man said.</p><p>Cig posted a neutral look on his face. He was looking forward to meeting Freiar and the bard, but he was not looking forward to what may come after. <em>I don’t want it to come to violence again, like what I left. I’m a humanitarian, not a warrior. </em>Cig thought, ass he waited to go into the tavern. He and the Aqualish discussed the town and the planet he came upon.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Freiar's Bar</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It wasn’t as long as Cig thought before he was able to enter the tavern. He was greeted with a slight pleasant, more so than he initially expected. This establishment even rivalled the bars of Coruscant in beauty. It was a vibrant, well-lit place with premium-looking tables accented with beautiful endpieces consisting of small, artificial trees at the left end and durasteel saucers on the left and right of each tree.</p><p>Cig was forced to wait even longer to occupy a seat at the bar. As he waited, he felt something. A presence, a powerful one. This presence felt as an average Jedi. <em>How can one not keep on themselves hidden, these days, with such a gift as Force sensitivity? </em>Cig thought, as he waited, anxious to find out his mission. The presence, although dangerous to the person’s safety, felt welcoming and friendly.</p><p>After taking some deep breaths and counting the people who exited the tavern behind him, he heard a voice call his name. “Seat for Zankarra!” Cig stood up in front of his chair and began to walk towards the receptionist and the exquisitely dressed female Mirialan hostess. The hostess greeted him pleasantly and made sure she explained the deals of the day. It took moments for them to get to his bar seat. Something peculiar happened on his journey from the front to his seat—he received a strong glance from another female Mrialan as she walked to a table.</p><p>Something was particularly fascinating about this smooth, strong- glancing woman—the presence seemed to be hers. Her face was tattooed with diamonds, as some Mirialans were. Diamonds of four diamonds of black accented each cheek. A snaking line of diamonds, which extended from each large diamond to the middle of the bridge of her nose, further accented her face. In addition, another diamond was forming on her forehead. It was currently an arrowhead pointing toward her nose.</p><p><em>Barriss, you’re still alive! I thought you would be dead, for sure. </em>Cig thought as she nodded and gestured to him. She subtly put her left pointer finger on her right diamond and her thumb at the edge of her nose. She moved her hand quickly and displayed her pinkie as an indicator of direction. She finally brought her hand at ease and tapped her thigh with her pointer finger. Cig did not know what this meant. He shrugged. The woman then frustratedly walked to another table and sat down with a small group of people.</p><p>The barstools were bolted into the ground with of some faux gold material. The seats were surfaced with a similar material as the rods. Atop the seats lay a cushion that seemed of pure silk. The stool Cig was to sit on would inevitably be very comfortable. Cig unconsciously pumped his both fists slightly and posted a wide smile on his face.</p><p>The short walk to the bar allowed Cig to make one realization. This was not only a popular place; it was a very well fashioned establishment in an overlooked world. It was a place he would like to visit again when he had other people to bring with him. This was a hidden gem of a place that people just had to see.</p><p>Cig sat down on the silken seat of the barstool he requested. A woman behind the bar promptly greeted him, “Hello there young one. What brings you to Gysol’s Tavern?” Cig was taken back by the woman’s question. He noticed that the woman’s blue eyes stared not into his own, but at his waist. She was playing with him; she knew about the sword—about the prophecy.</p><p>Cig hesitated and then spoke. “I need a -- diversion from a horrible place. I found your world by <em>not finding </em>it. My map led me here precisely because it was uncharted. I—” The woman interrupted Cig. “<em>Didn’t find us?</em> What kinda tricks are those mapmakers playing on us? The Republic did say they would recognize us.” The woman took her right hand out of the pocket it was in, threw something on the floor and stomped on it all in one swift gesture. “I guess this world is something of a <em>hidden gem </em>then.” The woman behind the counter laughed.</p><p>Cig looked at the woman behind the counter with a look of equal parts confusion and shock, “I still have no idea how that could happen. Why would that be?” Cig looked at the woman sternly.</p><p>The woman looked at the floor as if she was annoyed at Cig’s inquisitiveness. “Get me straight, I have no idea why your map doesn’t show us. You’re here now and it doesn’t matter much whether your map is bunk.” The woman grabbed a small translucent glass filled with a blue liquid from a counter behind her and paced right away from Cig. “All that matters here is whether I get new customers. This is a bustling restaurant after all!”</p><p>Cig saw the woman slide the drink across the counter to a <em>Mon Calamari</em>, whose orange skin was made even more vivid because of the shadow cast by the orange sign above him. As Cig took a look around the room, he noticed a nearly equal number of aliens and humans. The woman quickly walked over to the front of Cig. “Well, what’ll it be traveler?”</p><p>“Hmm, nothing sounds more refreshing than some water. Guess I’ll have that.”</p><p>“Ahh, I see, the essentials. One water coming right up.”</p><p>The woman behind the bar knocked on the wall directly in front of Cig. She pulled a glass from under the counter. Promptly as she grabbed the cup, a section of the wall slid away from the front of the woman. Within the wall was a fountain. She hovered the cup under this fountain and summoned a thin stream of water.</p><p>The woman behind the counter turned and slid the cup of water in front of Cig. “Here you go, traveler! If you need anything else, call me by name, Saami, alright?” The woman smiled at Cig and began to turn away from Cig.</p><p>Cig took a breath. “Thanks for being quick with my order, Saami.” Saami turned and took a breath of her own. Before she could say anything, Cig interrupted. “Is someone named Freiar in today? Someone in town told me to see her about something I found earlier today.” Cig began to shift himself to show Saami the sword.</p><p>“Hmm, I was impressed at how you were being so subtle about having came across something so revered by our people,” Saami mocked Cig. Cig looked at Saami with a look of confusion. “Everyone knows you have <em>it. It </em>sticks out on your belt.” Saami’s voice gradually became a whisper by the time she finished.</p><p>Cig rolled his eyes. Saami revoked her sarcastic comment, “My apologies for being blunt. Anyway, Freiar will be here shortly for pre-closing inspections. I’ll just say that you’ll know when she gets here. She herself is more revered than that which you carry. Everyone takes note of her.”</p><p>“Interesting. Someone on the streets mentioned a bard and a prophecy. Do you know anything about that?”</p><p>Saami glared at Cig. “I do know of the bard! He is one of the most famous people on this small planet. He is also by far the wisest here as well. I love that man, and you will really like him too once you meet him.”</p><p>Cig was confused, he did see the woman take note of the sword he carried. “You had me guessing that you knew more about the sword.”</p><p>Saami promptly deflected Cig’s request for more information. “I’ll let you wait until Freiar arrives to know what you seek. In the meantime, I will, however, give you some food to keep you here.” Saami pulled up a sleeve to rub her left arm. This small motion revealed Saami’s elbow, which was reconstructed by a bronze prosthetic arm and elbow. “Thank you, Saami. The hospitality on this world is <em>absolutely</em> amazing! You rarely this in the galaxy these days.”</p><p>“Sure thing! I’ll bring you my favorite dish. I’m sure you will enjoy it as much as I do”.</p><p>As she turned away from Cig, an armband on Saami’s left rhythmically pulsed. Cig saw a light turn on near the top of the armband. Saami looked down at the armband and promptly looked back up at Cig. “You’re in luck, traveler,” Saami said, “Freiar is on her way. She’s just down the street, so she should be here in the next few minutes.”</p><p>“Splendid!” Cig responded, looking at the blinking light on the woman’s wrist. He turned his attention to the cup in front of him. It was filled to the brim with cold, pure-looking, transparent water. Drinking this seemed as though it would be one of the highlights of his day travelling. Satisfaction was going to be derived.</p><p>Cig picked up the cup, which felt heavier than he had expected. He tipped the brim to let the water touch his lips and enter his mouth. His lips felt the icy coolness derived from the water. It was chilled in its storage, it was great. The best, in fact, that Cig had tasted in weeks, maybe even months! All of the necessary qualities for the water to be great were met and Cig was grateful. Cig tipped the cup and his head so he could finish his whole serving of water.</p><p>“Barkeep!” Cig exclaimed, holding his hand in the air.</p><p>“I’ll be there in a moment.” The woman said. Saami looked into another small window. She said something in a foreign tongue. “<em>Sakoren’sat eirode nakorde’ir hedar Hellas iga ibic aardem.” </em></p><p>A muffled voice on the other side of the window responded with a simple hum in affirmation. Saami then slowly walked back to Cig, checking the status of the other customers as she made her way back to Cig.</p><p>She walked past Cig to check on the customers on the other side of the bar.</p><p>…</p><p>Two people had ordered drinks and one had made a commotion over an ill-fulfilled order. This man yelled something in the foreign, Mandalorian dialect he had heard before and managed to upset the barkeeper. She did not show it on her face, but by the time she got around to talking to Cig once again, he could feel the tension. Her hands were balled up in fists and she walked stiffly.</p><p>She came to Cig. “So, traveler, I ordered you a local delicacy called sakoren’sat. It’ll be done in around fifteen minutes from now.” Saami said.</p><p>“Thank you, I really appreciate your kindness and hospitality.”</p><p>“Thank you, traveler. I’m glad you’re one of those who does. Some people can’t do the same as you.”</p><p>“And you speak of that man you kicked out of the bar shortly ago?”</p><p>“That man is an extremely bitter local food critic who is cynical toward everyone. Being inebriated does him no better.”</p><p>“That is so unfortunate.”<br/>“It really is. I pour my heart and soul into this position. They all—” The restaurant became uncharacteristically quiet. For a short second, Cig thought something bad was about to happen. Suddenly, as fast as the silence came, the restaurant erupted into an incomprehensible chant. <em>Froyaheyaeiyakoremdiyo. </em>Cig looked around in the restaurant just to see everyone begin to clap while chanting. Saami got Cig’s attention. “Traveler, if you look towards the door you came in, you will see the person you’ve been waiting for!” Cig nodded in affirmation. He looked to his left and noticed a woman walking down an empty aisleway created by the people moving about the restaurant yielding to her.</p><p>Cig noted that the woman quickly walking towards him was dressed exquisitely, almost as if she was royalty or an elite. Her brown face was done up well with makeup, a small beaded headdress, and dark, curly hair. Her hair ran down her shoulders and covered much of the area down towards her breast. Her hair clashed in color with the white colored inner woolen fabric of her sweater’s hood as much as her hair blended with the sweater’s leather exterior. The sweater’s front zipper was released. The sweater’s opened state revealed a grayish brown blouse. Below the sweater and blouse looked to be a floor-length gray dress which made it look as though the woman was hovering above the ground as she walked.</p><p>Cig raised his eyebrows, smirked, and turned to Saami.  “Saami, you weren’t lying when you said ‘best dressed’. Looks more like a goddess.” Saami shook her head. “I would have said the same when I met her back twenty years ago. She became more of a queen as Ii got to know her, though. She insists we treat her as a businesswoman when she acts like the most compassionate queen I could have ever conceptualized.” Saami whispered. She also chuckled.  The woman continued to walk unchallenged through the aisle.</p><p>The woman reached into a pocket on her sweater as she walked towards the bar. This quick, calculated movement revealed an armband. She clipped the armband around her left wrist and pressed some buttons on its face.  The woman approached the bar and stopped behind Cig. He could feel her behind him. <em>She’s -- behind me. </em>Cig thought as he slowly turned to face the woman. The woman spoke: “Saami, how’s my restaurant?”</p><p> “Freiar, it’s been a busy evening and a slightly slow day before that. The critic came and I had to kick him again. Second time in the past three days. Also, Terr’uka had to leave for Mau’undai City and I’m covering him.” Saami said, rolling a sleeve down and pulling out a small tablet from her pocket.</p><p>“Good work, Saami. You may begin closing in a half-hour.” Freiar said, slowly looking down toward Cig, “And you must be the man who came into possession of the sword. It is truly a fascinating relic of a bygone era. It’s one of the most beautiful objects I have seen in my entire life!”</p><p>“I know, I was taken aback, myself, when I first saw it. It truly is amazing.” Cig agreed wholeheartedly with the words of Freiar. “What is the meaning of this sword, Lady Freiar? I trust that you know the story behind it.” Cig turned his body towards Freiar. He looked intently at Freiar’s face. Her green eyes gave a penetrating gaze and her mouth showed an angelic smile which quickly turned to a grmace. The purple and green lights from the bar reflected off of her skin as she stood above Cig. Her head was above Cig, but not by much.</p><p>Freiar glared at Cig. “’<em>Lady?’. </em>That’s by far the most peculiar name I’ve been given since someone mistaken for a warlord. Please disregard my fashion sense, I am but a businesswoman as my mother and grandmother were before me.” Freiar rebutted commandingly. “Now with titles out of the way, I will tell you that I am very familiar with that weapon. It was one of the relics which my family held onto for generations since the Sith ravaged the galaxy. It was sealed off until my adolescence many years ago. It was heavily guarded by my father for years. Then my father was robbed of it by some hooligan. It’s ben away from my family for fifty years.” Freiar paused to take a breath. She looked away from Cig for a few seconds as her face sank. “I quickly discovered its destructive potential after one owner murdered a whole house full of people with it and <em>fell on it</em> in the forest just outside of town. The fourteen subsequent owners have tried to live up to the prophecy it brings but have sorely failed, dying partways through.”</p><p>Cig’s eyes opened wide in excitement for a few quick seconds. “Who do I have to eliminate? What do I have to do to satisfy my purpose? Are this sword’s victims on purpose?” Cig had a plethora of questions; he could not fathom releasing all of them in a constant stream of consecutive words.</p><p> Freiar subtly adjusted the neck of her sweater, flipped some locks of hair over her shoulder and tensed up. Cig crossed his arms. Freiar, closed her eyes and took a breath. “I don’t have much knowledge on the prophecy, but I can only assume it has something to do with becoming familiar with the essence of the sword and reunifying the planet’s native people and defeat the Ferrokana. The bard knows the words to the prophecy. You can ask him when he comes in next rotation.”</p><p>Cig uncrossed his arms and sat up straighter, “What would my odds be if I take on this quest?” Cig asked, warily. Freiar hesitated and stroked some strands of hair that had fallen in front of her right shoulder. She flipped those strands of hair behind her shoulder. “My apologies traveler, may I have a moment to walk behind the bar?” Freiar’s eyes directed Cig’s leftward. <em>Mhm</em> Cig nodded in affirmation.</p><p>Moments later Cig had turned to face Saami. Freiar caught up to both of them holding a dirty glass. The hint of murky blue liquid at the bottom of the glass looked familiar to Cig<em>. </em>Freiar motioned to the person behind the window to take the glass and wash it. The person behind the window promptly opened and grabbed the glass, then closed the window. She then turned to Cig, “Look here traveler, “ Freiar adjusted her sweater, “your odds are hinged upon whether you can resist your natural destructive impulses. Those poor souls I spoke of before were likely undisciplined and untrained in the arts of dealing with these impulses constructively. It may also be that they had no magick or connection to the Force. Again, come back to hear from the bard to hear the details.”</p><p>“And the Ferrokana, what is their significance?”</p><p> “The Ferrokana are our oppressors. For over forty years, they have been exploiting our people and planet for devious means. They force our people to overproduce our crops and sell them at a loss. They have even been known to use unmarked soldier caravans to make dissidents disappear into slavery.”</p><p>“That sounds an awful lot like what’s going on in the wider galaxy, at the moment.”</p><p>“Is that so? How so?” Freiar said, squinting in confusion.</p><p>“Do you people here get imperial holo-news?”</p><p>A confused Freiar nodded in denial. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about, traveler. The only news we get here is the local news provided by our <em>omnimalevolent overlords</em>.”</p><p>Cig had been so entranced in the conversation that he did not notice a new alien sit on the seat five chairs away from him. This alien simply looked like a green human female of average height. She laughed.  “Omnimalevolent overlords, more like laughable dictators. Ha! I’ll have my usual, Freiar.” The green woman looked in Cig’s direction. She smiled at Cig. Freiar smiled, “Coming right up, it’s always a pleasure to see you, Moiran.”</p><p>“You’re the traveler with the sacred artifact, right?” the mysterious woman asked Cig. “Also, that Empire thing you speak of terrifies me to death. Let’s just say that they are even more cruel than you know. Be very careful if you leave this rock.” She turned and pulled out a small tablet. She got out of her seat, taking off a thin sweater and leaving it on the seat. As she walked towards Cig, she tapped a few buttons on the screen. A small magnetic card emerged out of the bottom of the tablet. </p><p>Cig was not looking at the woman. She closed the distance between them and tapped his shoulder. With her arm out, she whispered to Cig. “Traveler, if you need a hand on your strike team, I am willing to join. Contact me when you need me.” Cig reluctantly took the card from the woman. “Alright. I’ll keep you in mind.” Cig said uncomfortably.</p><p>By the time Freiar brought Moiran’s drink, Moiran was already back to her seat. “Well, you’ve been off-world for quite a while. What is this business with this Empire the traveler speaks of?” Freiar asked as she put down a cup of murky gray liquid onto the table in front of Moiran.</p><p>“Well it seems that the Republic has transitioned into the Empire. The sad thing about it is that the Jedi deserved to maintain their order. They’re mostly gone now. Although a few may still survive and they may still live among us, the order the galaxy cherished and told stories about for generations is no longer with us. It is fuel for depression.” Moiran shook her head and buried it into the palms of her hands.</p><p>Freiar rolled her eyes. “That is a great shame. I’ve met my fair share of Jedi in my life and they are not at all warmongers. They were the types of good people that one would want to have around. They may have had their bad times of fighting and wars they intervened in, but they are no such people as warmongers.”</p><p><em>Moiran, </em>Cig thought, <em>I like that name. </em>“Say Moiran, have you ever met any jedi before? Or have you just heard tales of them and the propaganda the Empire spits at the trillions of people who know nothing of the true Jedi?” Cig asked, looking again in Moiran’s direction.</p><p>Moiran turned and flicked a lock of her hair away form her left eye, “Well, I don’t know how much I can tell you about that. I don’t like talking much about that subject because I saw horrible things when I fought with them. There was a civil war on my home planet of Saskantar Prime, then the droids came. I was a frontline medic for the government loyalists, then the Jedi came with their clones. I fought together with them long enough to fully appreciate their power and intuition; long enough to see clones murder four Jedi and almost lost my knee, SIX BLASTED times.” Cig noticed Moiran was sobbing.</p><p>“I’m sorry Moiran. I know what great friends Jedi can be. It’s a hard thing to go through, losing a friend of that caliber. The loss haunts me to this day. They got blown away, utterly incinerated when the order came.” Cig choked back a tear. He moved his body awkwardly up onto the counter and firmly pressed his right hand onto his left fist. He rested his hands on the counter.</p><p>Moiran looked at Cig and struggled for a moment to find the words to say next. “Did—Did you fight with them?” Moiran asked</p><p>“The entire War. On my homeworld of Ankar Dul.”</p><p>“Got a name?”</p><p>Cig hesitated, thinking of a nickname he had during the Clone Wars, “Zankarra.” He said, ttapping his fingers against the table.</p><p>“Nice to make you acquaintance, Zankarra.” Moiran laughed. “You’re gonna be quite popular with the ladies here.” Cig and Moiran both laughed awkwardly.</p><p>Moiran gulped down the murky drink quickly. It seemed that as soon as she put down the glass, she had already taken out one piece of golden change, said, “Keep the change!” and stormed out of the bar, slightly stumbling. “This kriff’s stron’er than ever. K—keep it up, Fr—” Moiran let out a belch and went on her way.</p><p>A lull of calmness drew itself over the bar. Cig listened to all of the noise in his surroundings. He heard many distinct languages and accents. He realized something in his focused effort to listen—directly in back of him, on the other side of the room, was a familiar voice. Someone he once knew and thought had perished in the chaos of this time. <em>She seems happy. I’m glad she found somewhere that she fits in. </em></p><p>Suddenly, Cig’s concentration was broken. He heard another voice, a totally new one. He looked over his shoulders. His eyes bulleted from one side of the room to the other. A hand tapped hist left shoulder. “Yer not from ‘round ‘ere, aren’t ya?” A deep, uber masculine voice called out to Cig.</p><p>“Well no, I discovered this world on accident. I crashed here.”</p><p>“Alrighty. Jus’ do me a favor,” The man talking to Cig turned his voice to a whisper. “with that name alone, the local gals’ll be all over ya ‘cause the name means ‘<em>Great Giver of Love’</em>. Heed my warnin’ an’ be careful who ya get with.”</p><p>Cig still couldn’t see the man whose voice he heard clearly. “Sure, I’ll keep that in mind.”</p><p>Turning his head from looking behind him, he noticed Saami push a scalding hot bowl of soup across the counter in front of him. He put his hand out in front of it in anticipation. When the bowl touched his hand he quickly moved his hand away from the bowl with a sigh of pain. “Be careful, there, traveler,” Saami mocked. Cig watched her press a button on her wrist and noticed a square of counter on the right side of the bowl retreat under the counter. It quickly came back up with a spoon and two-pronged fork, both cast in fine steel. “Impressive, thank you Saami.” Cig complemented.</p><p>Freiar looked at the bowl of soup on the table, then at Saami. Cig noticed her eyes light up and her smile become more prominent. “Great choice, Saami.” Freiar turned to Saami. “I see you’re showing him our world famous Sakoren’sat. It is surely our greatest dish on offer!”</p><p>Cig picked up the spoon and dipped it into the broth. He moved it through the soup to inspect whatever food was submerged under the soup. He felt several pieces of meat and vegetables. Some of the meat felt soft in texture and other pieces were of a harder nature. Cig fished out some of the softer meat from the bottom of the plate and put it to his lips. The feeling was familiar yet very much novel. He allowed it to enter his mouth. The meat it self tasted spicy and its softness made it so that it almost dissolved in Cig’s mouth. Cig heard beeping coming from somewhere, he could not determine where. Eating was more important t Cig than was determining where the beeping originated.</p><p>Cig fished out a one of the harder pieces of meat. In stark contrast to the first piece, it was much tougher; needing to be chewed many more times before swallowing. This meat also had a different, more tangy taste to it with a hint of sweetness.</p><p>After taking several spoonfuls of the soup, Cig found some of the vegetables Freiar had mentioned. As a whole, Cig noticed that the vegetables were organized to be a colorful combination. Each individual vegetable was crunchy, sweet, and juicy. As a whole, Cig thoroughly enjoyed the dish.</p><p>The beeping began to get louder. <em>Others must be hearing this. </em>Cig thought, taking more spoons of the soup. The person sitting in the stool across from him turned and took a breath. “Uuh, Zonkara, do you also hear that beeping?” The person beside him said sheepishly. Cig put his spoon down and turned. The man beside him had extremely pale skin and bright red blemishes all over his face that were made even more pronounced by his paleness. Cig swallowed a piece of vegetable and cleared his throat. “Yep. I was actually gonna ask someone the same thing.” Cig said, tapping rhythmically on the counter.</p><p>The pale man rubbed his left hand with his right. “Good, I thought I was going mad again.” The man began to shake. I was afraid I would have to go back to that hospital. I can’t go back there.” He muttered. Cig reassured the man, “I don’t know what this hospital is, but I can assure you that you’re sane.” The man was no longer shaking. He nodded. “Thank you<em> Zan</em>,” Cig noticed a change in tone but thought nothing of it for the moment. They both turned back to their business.</p><p>Cig stirred his soup for a few moments, focusing on where the irritating beeps were coming from. He looked in the direction opposite the door, closed his eyes and called out to the Force. He felt nothing. He looked in the opposite direction, he saw and felt much the same thing—nothing quite out of the ordinary. <em>Maybe some electronic device is down and warning us. </em>Cig thought.</p><p>Cig continued to eat his soup.</p><p>Cig could hear Freiar arguing with a customer about a price fluctuation as Sammi mopped the floor behind the bar. Not long after the customer began arguing, the matter was put to rest and Cig could feel the customer’s disappointment. He continued eating and listening. Something piqued his interest.</p><p>Saami leaned the mop against a wall and walked towards Freiar. “May I go and fix the breakers in the back, boss?” Saami asked, putting a small cloth in her pocket. Freiar simply nodded in affirmation. Saami tried to walk past Freiar but was stopped with a single touch on the shoulder. “Friend be careful back there. I fear something strange is transpiring. My wrist aches again.” Freiar said, releasing her hand. Saami nodded.</p><p>As she walked towards the back of the restaurant, Cig could hear Saami humming a tune. As he heard it, it felt calming.</p><p>Something was indeed going wrong, for Cig felt a coldness coming closer from just beyond the restaurant doorway. Cig winced at the gradually nearing coldness.</p><p>Cig convinced himself that it would pass and continued to eat. Cig adjusted the sword on his belt, as if to conceal it a bit more.</p><p>Shortly after fixing his sword on his belt, a group of people walked into the restaurant. Each person in the group wore a facemask which covered all skin of their faces. Cig calmly turned his head, glancing over at the entry to the restaurant. He noticed a tall, large man at the head of the group. The large man entered the restaurant with another three equally large men walking behind him. The giant man neared the receptionist, making the relatively short woman look like a child compared to her average-height father. She looked up at him holding herself firmly in front of him.</p><p>“<em>Macie, ermantzan sen loftyr err pouz,</em>” The woman said, hesitating.</p><p>“<em>Saprit ga! Noci ekkar akaite noi ettor Freiar</em>!” The man said.</p><p>Cig watched the man raise his voice an push the small woman away. She persisted in trying to keep him away. He shoved her away. She once more got in front of him. This time he rolled his fist and punched her in the midsection. She reeled in pain as she fell to the ground. Cig was jolted in his seat by this. He winced.</p><p>Cig noticed Freiar roll up her sleeves. She walked out of the bar and ran to face the man. Cig heard them talking:</p><p>“What do you want Qi’ro?” Friar asked, fists in hips.</p><p>“I would like to give you what you deserve. You have no business owning this place and this town!” The man yelled, crossing his arms.</p><p>Freiar brushed him off. “Ahh, you are one of those. Too bad you are not welcome here, or else I would offer you a job somewhere. Now get out, and never com back!” Freiar looked back at Cig. She subtly tilted her head. The man stood firm in position. “I told you to leave, Qi’ro. I don’t want any trouble.” Freiar pleaded, pointing toward the door. “I know where the door is, old hag.” He said, slapping Freiar’s face. She dropped onto the floor with a loud thud. Upon hitting the floor, Qi’ro bent down on one knee and grabbed Freiar’s hand. <em>Good, there’s still a pulse. </em>He thought. Qi’ro shifted up to Freiar’s head. He pushed the hair off her ear and whispered “<em>Your Excellency, </em>I’m here for the man with the power to topple your influence and turn this hellhole around.”</p><p>Someone, somewhere in the restaurant screamed, which prompted Qi’ro to look over his shoulder. “Whoever did that, do not do that again. If you do, you will lose your head.” He pulled out a blaster from his hip, “Try me!” He threatened, brandishing and waving a blaster. Everybody sitting at a table ducked under their respective table at the sight of his blaster. Those sitting at the bar curled up, heads on the counter. Cig tilted his head so that he could see what was happening on the other side of the bar. Cig saw Qi’ro give a hand signal, commanding two men to get up on each side of him.</p><p>Moments later, Cig saw a man stand up. He shook as he began to speak, “F—Freiar brought work to this so-called hellhole! Y-you guys s-shouldn’t disrespect her like that!” He quickly pulled a blaster of his own. He shook with greater tension.</p><p>“Look, everyone, we have ourselves a hero! How much d’y’all bet he’ll save your miserable, pathetic lives?” Qi’ro mocked, holding up his blaster and pointing it toward the man. The man, in turn, pointed the blaster at the man to the left of Qi’ro. At a moment’s notice, two flashes of light rang out. Immediately after the light dissipated, Cig noticed the man and the henchman to the left of Qi’ro  had been flung back several meters from their initial positions. Each man’s eyes were open wide and did not blink.</p><p>Cig’s face sank into his arm and he moaned quietly. Cig slowly emerged from his seat. “Qi’ro, I f you want a hero, I’ll give you one!” Cig mocked. It appeared that the entire room gasped at hiss confident stance.</p><p>“Ahh, you must be the hero I heard about. It’s about time you gave yourself up.”</p><p>“And you shouldn’t, be bothering the customers here. It’s time you get out of here. Please, that’s all I want for this place.” Cig pleaded, standing firmly in place, crossing his arms and tapping his boot on the ground. “I’m waiting.” Cig calmly and slowly switched his hands from crossed in his arms to resting on his hips. Qi’ro firmly pointed his blaster at Cig.</p><p>Cig quickly pulled out a blaster of his own off of his belt. He fired it five times. Five shots hit their targets in a critical fashion. One shot released the blaster from Qi’ro’s hand, three others cut down Qi’ro’s remaining henchmen in the bar, and the last one went outside of the bar’s doorway. Several people screamed. Cig looked around. The only change he noticed was the look on the face belonging to the woman who was in the table directly behind the bar, near the restaurant window. The woman’s face showed eyes wide in surprise and a mouth agape. It was only when she noticed Cig glancing at her that she covered her mouth. <em>Alright, tat was Mika  now. </em>Cig thought. He smiled and nodded his slightly tilted his head.</p><p>Cig holstered his blaster as quickly as he unholstered it moments earlier. “Now what was that about me being a hero?” Cig mocked once again. “I think you were right.” Cig laughed.</p><p>Qi’ro groaned and laughed, ”You have fine abilities to draw a blaster and accurately take down belligerents. Most impressive. Now let’s fight like men now!”</p><p>Cig continued crossing his arms. Qi’ro ran at Cig. He threw a punch at Cig with the same hand Cig shot at. Cig promptly blocked the punch with an arm. <em>Ouch! This guy is more animal than man.</em> Cig thought as his arm became sore. He immediately lost confidence in his ability to win the battle, for he felt like he would lose an arm if he blocked too much. <em>Ugh, I have to dodge and find an opening. </em>He thought, gritting his teeth. He threw a punch of his own with the opposite hand. He hit Qi’ro, but the hit did not seem to do much. He saw Qi’ro smile.</p><p>Qi’ro threw another punch. This time, it missed Cig. He swiftly dodged it. Several punches followed and he was miraculously able to land three punches and block several punches from Qi’ro. <em>Let me see if I can knock him out. </em>Cig thought as he tried to aim from a different angle. He stepped back one stride’s length. Cig strode leftward, away from the bar counter in an arc around Qi’ro.  Qi’ro turned at him and threw a punch. He blocked this punch, yet it broke his guard and put him off-balance. Qi’ro threw two more punches. Both punches hit Cig’s chest. Cig hunched forward. Qi’ro cocked back his arm and connected with Cig’s chest. He flew back. <em>Ahh, ouch, ooh. That hurts. </em>He thought, trembling and curled up holding his chest.</p><p>Qi’ro walked towards Cig. Slowly. Time slowed to a crawl for Cig. He began to carefully move backward. Slowly. Qi’ro walked in stride. “You coward, they thought you were a hero. Now you get to die a martyr and I get to move up in te eyes of the Ferrokana.” Qi’ro mocked Cig, laughing and cracking his knuckles. He caught up to Cig. He stepped on Cig’s lower chest. Cig screamed. A weakened Cig tried to mustr the strength to grab the blaster from his holster. His hand trembled. Qi’ro kicked it away. “It’s not gonna be that easy, you fool.” Qi’ro kicked Cig again, prompting another scream.</p><p>Cig turned his trembling head away from Qi’ro. Suddenly, he saw a blue lazer flash and come towards him. Another one promptly followed. Qi’ro fell on his abdomen. <em>Ugh, I’m so glad that’s over. </em>Cig thought. Saami quickly ran to Cig. As she ran, she gradually lowered herself to the point where her cloth pant legs slid across the smooth tile flooring. She groaned, pushing Qi’ro’s body off of Cig’s. “How are you holding up, traveler?” Saami asked as she pulled out a towel from her pocket.</p><p>“N—not we--well. That g—” Cig coughed. “That guy was quite a b—bruiser—” Cig coughed again, this time blood flew out of his mouth. “Thank you f—” Cig felt a burning sensation in his head, worse than any high or hangover he’d felt before.  Saami was feeling Cig’s chest. He tried to muster up the entire sentence of gratitude but he could only muster up a groan and a short, “Thank’ fu’ th’ save” between deep gasps for air and coughs. Saami turned to him and nodded. “Mhm, save your energy so that you may live on.”</p><p>She turned towards the table Cig had looked at many times to see the woman he saw earlier, when he walked in. “Tera! Sarama! I need your help over here.” Saami called out.</p><p>The first person to arrive was the green woman from earlier. Seconds later, Cig saw another woman, this time a human a bit shorter than the first.</p><p>“What can we do for you?” Both women asked nearly in unison.</p><p>“Tera, I would like you to administer one of your stims to Freiar so we can guarantee her survival after recovering by your Bacta room. And from what I can see here, I would like Sarama to simply take Zankarra to the Bacta room to recover from his wounds. “ Saami commanded.</p><p>Saami handed Sarama the towel she held and motioned her to put it on Cig’s head. That, she did, looking into Cig’s dreary eyes. She quickly and carefully picked up Cig and rushed him out of the restaurant.</p><p>Shortly thereafter, they walked down the main road quietly. Cig’s eyes were open slightly. Sarama looked down into Cig’s eyes but quickly looked back up to the road. “Mi—ka, you’re a—live.” Cig said, smiling.</p><p>“Cig, did they send you to extract me?” Mika asked, eyes widening.</p><p>“N-no, They’re a-ll d—d—de—ad n—ow.” Cig said. He closed his eyes.</p><p>Mika saw this and put her forehead to his. <em>Oh, Cig.</em> She thought. Mika looked up, high into the sky, and groaned. “In that case, we’ll get you all fixed up and we can finish our missions—all together. Just hang in there buddy.” She said to the now unconscious Cig. She fixed Cig’s free, limp left arm closer to her hand. She extended her arm and grabbed his left hand. She clasped it and sighed. “I wish I could have told you how I felt all those years ago. With my luck, I would have been dead on Maramar or expelled.” Mika passed a few tears but came to her senses and achieved her goal.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Maamar Incident</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The text editor on this site is crap and I don't feel like learning CSS just to get indents. Therefore, I will tell all of you that this is a dream sequence that takes place in Cig's mind as he is in that Bacta chamber. My formating for this chapter was indented and was lost to this editor.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p>Master Draco’s snowy white beard blew in the warm wind of planet Maramar. “Hmm, interesting. They are fortified here, here, and there. If we meet at coordinate 965 x echo two, we can get into the base and disable the comms and capture it. How many droid legions of resistance are we looking at?” Draco asked, glancing at Cig.</p>
  <p>“Master Sarankar has the intel, master,” Cig said, glancing at the opposite side of the hologram table. “She forgot to let us in on the info.”</p>
  <p>“Lira?” Draco asked.</p>
  <p>“Seventy thousand, an overwhelming force bolstered by tanks and anti-aircraft artillery.”  Sarankar said.</p>
  <p>A moment of silence fell upon the group of Jedi planning a mission. Mika broke the silence. “Masters, how about Cig and I go for the flank of the base and draw some of their forces away from it. And you guys can go for the frontal assault.” Mika said, glancing and smiling at Cig. Cig smiled back and nodded. “What do you think of that idea, Master Draco?” Mika asked.  “Sure, that sounds as though it’s am acceptable idea.” Draco responded monotonously.</p>
  <p>“So it seems as though you are missing the only flaw of this plan, Draco.” Lira grimaced and shook her head. “Our padawans are undisciplined. They’ll surely be shredded to bits by those droids and tanks.”</p>
  <p>“Oh, Lira, how much of a mother you are! I have taught Cig how to survive. He can help Mika and carry her on his back if need be.” Draco crossed his arms.</p>
  <p>“Well—ugh, I suppose I can trust them this once. They just need to put their attachment to each other to the side for this once.” Lira sternly looked at watch of the padawans. “The success of this mission depends more on the success and cohesion of you two than of us. Make us proud. Meeting ADJOURNED!” Lira said.</p>
  <p>A few minutes later, Cig took out his communication device. “Lieutenant Boxer, scramble fifty ships worth of men in stealth protocol. Call them a click south of my position. Also, send in a line of tanks half a click north.” Cig barked into the commlink.</p>
  <p>“Will do, Commander.” Boxer said.</p>
  <p>“Whoever came up with the name Boxer?” Mika asked. “I kinda like that name” Mika laughed and lightly nudged at Cig. He stared into the forest. He began tapping his leg rhythmically.</p>
  <p>“It’s actually funnier than you would think. I’d be lying if I said it was less funny than I’m about to say. So, when I was assigned to his platoon, I was informed that he was one of those high-functioning clone lieutenants that wasn’t too far from being a plain commander. He might have been that by now, especially for what he did. So, on one of his siege breaking missions, he had the bright idea to break the Sep’s hold by infiltrating with reprogrammed droids placed by a human technician. He even set a doctored holo-recording to play if the Seps called him out. The boxer part comes not only from the fact that he shipped his supplies to himself and didn’t trigger their security, but that he also regularly laid the beatdown on super battle droids, held his own, and won!” Cig responded.</p>
  <p>“Damn, that’ quite a guy ya got there Cig!” Mika laughed again. “Now, let’s get out there and hit them swiftly, like a storm.”</p>
  <p>“I’m sure we would take them by surprise if we went in swiftly, but we need to capture the place, not to level it. We also want to draw as little attention to ourselves as we can. We need to let our clones do all of the work for us.” Cig protested.</p>
  <p>“Have it your way,” Mika complained. “Just know that it will take longer, time that will be taken away from taking back the rest of the planet.” Mika quipped back.</p>
  <p>“I suppose so, but you don’t want to suffer the same fate as Geram and Elach?”</p>
  <p>“You win, we can do stealth. Why do you always pull the guilt trip, though?” Mika asked, head down and wyes droopy.</p>
  <p>“Master Draco says that every Jedi lost is worth twenty ARC troopers or one hundred good regular clones. I believe that Jedi are way more valuable than that. And you—you’re a great friend. I can tell you’d have the same opinion as I do.” Cig put his arm around Mika’s shoulder. She looked up into his eyes. She reciprocated, wrapping her arm around his back. She lightly tapped his back twice.</p>
  <p>“I don’t trust myself, being warm with you right now. Something’s gonna go wrong if we stay like this.” Mika pleaded to Cig.</p>
  <p>“Mhm,” Cig cleared his throat. “I do suppose we should get on our way. Base won’t capture itself.” Cig’s cheeks turned bright red. Mika looked up, grinned, and covered her mouth. “Ha, I think the forest is calling us, adventurer.” Mika mocked.</p>
  <p>I deserved that, Cig thought. “I agree. Just try not to make so much noise.” They walked into the forest, a thicker forest than they had expected. <em>Better for being covert.</em></p>
  <p>…</p>
  <p>They trudged through the forest and made their way toward and into the compound. It was a matter of careful stealth as expected.</p>
  <p>“Got the EMP, Mika?” Cig whispered.</p>
  <p>Mika nodded and patted her hip.</p>
  <p>Cig nodded back. “Good. We gotta keep this quiet.”  He touched Mika’s shoulder and motioned her to get on her knees. He did the same. Cig pressed a button on his wristband. A hologram of the compound popped up. “Here is the back doorway. It is heavily guarded by droids, but the secret tunnel under the compound is not guarded at all. We can go in from there. Then we can set the charge and get out quickly, come back here, and set it off.” Cig and Mika mutually nodded once and moved forward. Cig pressed the button on his wrist to call back the hologram.</p>
  <p>They trudged through the forest further until they stared at the front of the compound behind the cover of brush. “That’s the front, Cig. We must be getting close to the tunnel.” Mika commented. “See that that tree that is so different from the others?” Cig asked Mika, pointing at a tree with dark orange bark, an excessively thick and long trunk, and blue leaves. “Mhm, it looks totally like a lookout tower disguised as a tree.” Mika slowly raised her eyes as if the tree was some type of spectacle to behold. She smiled. “Sure, but not quite. Boxer says it’s a CIS comms tower. Take this, I’ll trade you.” Cig threw Mika a plastic explosive. Mika threw the EMP to Cig. “You’re lookout for this here infiltration, since I run faster and you’re more confident at sight than I am.”</p>
  <p>Mika sneezed. “I’m sensitive to these plants. That’s not something I even expected. Hopefully it doesn’t interfere with our mission.” Mika ran her hands across the top of her head. And then rubbed her nose. “Sorry.” She narrowed her eyes and lowered her head.</p>
  <p>“No need to apologize, just try not to do it and if you can’t help it, delay it.” Cig said, touching Mika’s shoulder and walking past her.</p>
  <p>…</p>
  <p>After an hour of quiet listening and slow walking, they reached the tunnel entrance.</p>
  <p>“Lucky for us that they made an oversight in their design, huh?” Mika asked Cig, leaning on the tree. Cig looked at his wrist again. He tapped a few buttons. “I have a jamming signal on their comms frequencies. It should suffice until I’m able to get in, place the charge and get out.” Cig noted. “Can you help me pick up this cover without making much noise? I think it takes two to do that.”</p>
  <p>Mika pulled a tablet from the backpack she wore. “Scanning to make sure it’s not a trap, we can’t we too careful.” Mika tapped a few buttons. A soft beep emanated from Mika’s wrist. “We’re all set, no traps or trip-lasers. I’ll pull the bottom.” Mika pointed at the side of the cover closest to the compound.</p>
  <p>They carefully removed the cover. Cig looked down. “Wow, it looks better down there than I expected.” Cig moved towards a ladder on Mika’s side of the entrance. “Good luck, Cig.” Mika patted Cig’s back as he stepped down onto the ladder. Cig nodded. “Call Boxer when I give you the signal, alright.” Cig commanded. “Sure.” Mika nodded.</p>
  <p>Cig slowly and quietly walked through the tunnel, hiding behind boxes that lined the outer edges of the tunnel. As he walked along the walls, ducking behind boxes when he saw droids, he marveled at the impressive, factory-like construction of the compound. After all, it was built to be an unassuming outpost from the outside but look like a fully functioning factory on the inside. <em>They didn’t tell us this. This changes everything. </em>Cig thought.</p>
  <p>As Cig passed from the bridge tunnel into the building itself, he hesitantly pressed a button on his wrist device. A pink light began to flash. After about three seconds, the light stopped flashing and, moments later, turned blue. <em>Ahh, this mission is almost over!</em> He thought.</p>
  <p>A bright flash of light obscured Cig’s vision for a brief moment. Cig closed his eyes to shield them from the light.</p>
  <p>Cig opened his eyes. He found himself sitting in the forest, back pressed against the thick bark of a tree and head hanging down. His head burned in searing pain. <em>Ugh, what happened? </em>He rubbed his head in a daze.</p>
  <p>“Good, you’re up! Get on your feet and shake it off. We need to get outta here!” Mika exclaimed as she threw Cig his lightsaber and a small pistol. “Where’d you get this?” Cig asked as he inspected the pistol. The sleek black frame of the weapon made the weapon not only beautiful to look at, but also the matching color for Cig to holster on his belt. “It’s a CRX-522. I’ve only seen it in the holobooks.” Cig smiled.</p>
  <p>“I think the Seps are makin’ them in this factory, among other things. Since they’re illegal in the Republic, they have all the rights to do this since they’re technically out of the Republic.” Mika said as she sot once. At the moment that the blaster first shot, a sound similar to an electric turbine emanated from the body of the gun. The sound eventually dissipated in a fashion like a gust of wind. “That’s the part you like about the gun, Cig, don’t ya?” Mika asked. “Yeah, but not exactly. See the droid you just downed?” Cig pointed at a droid in front of them. Its arms were gold, yet what was the gold chest of the droid was quickly being consumed by a greenish-brown flame. “I love to appreciate how brutal this weapon really is. It’s one of the most interesting weapons I’ve seen.” Cig limped to his feet. He picked up his lightsaber and clipped it to his belt. He picked up the blaster and held it in his hand.</p>
  <p>Cig’s armband beeped. He tapped a button on it. “General, we have made your extraction point. We calculated that it is four clicks north-east. Cut through the forest and you should be there in no time. I’ll be seeing you.” The clone said.</p>
  <p>Cig rubbed his shoulder. “Are there any droids in the forest, Boxer?” Cig asked. “I don’t see many. However, they could be jamming our sensors at the moment. Be careful, general.” Boxer replied.</p>
  <p>“Thank you, I’ll be seeing you, Commander.” Cig ended the call with Boxer.</p>
  <p>Cig looked towards the front of the tree. “The tanks should cover our extraction very shortly,” Cig looked over his shoulders and then in the air. He noticed a ship with the compartment to dispense a tank to ground. “shortly? What are they doing?” Cig shrugged and inspected the blaster to see its settings.</p>
  <p>“You talking to yourself again?” Mika asked, glaring at Cig. “Droids aren’t gonna down themselves and I can’t get all of them, either.” Mika spread six shots out in front of her quickly, six droids fell and burned. “Don’t worry, jist getting my bearings and putting it on ion mode. If it has one.” Cig responded.</p>
  <p>Cig shot his gun as well. Bursts of three blue laser bolts were expelled from his blaster and were pushed towards the droids. Each bolt hit its target.</p>
  <p>As they shot their blasters in succession, they realized that the droids were slowly advancing in greater numbers. “Cig.” Mika put out a hand towards Cig. “Do you have any of those incendiary grenades from the ship?” She squinted ponderously. Cig pressed a button on his belt and a small door opened. He took out five little silver balls with red tops one-at-a-time and threw each to Mika in the same fashion. “Mika, use these wisely, I only have ten.” Cig said as he closed the compartment on his belt.</p>
  <p>“So, what’s the plan, Cig?” Mika asked as she shot at the droids some more.</p>
  <p>Cig retreated behind his tree. “Hmm,” He rubbed his chin. “I think you could go deep into the forest and allow me to cover you from here and a bit further back.” Cig ssid, shooting a few shots into the gradually increasing mass of droids.</p>
  <p>A sudden loud blast flashed in front of them. “Hey, the clones are finally here! Mika exclaimed. “Let’s go and detonate the charge.”</p>
  <p>“Cig opened another compartment on his belt. He extracted ten small yellow balls from the compartment. He put them on the ground. He raised his hand, raising the balls. When they were many meters above his head, Cig pushed his hand forward quickly. They flew forward with great speed. Within seconds, they each detonated. They were EMPs! The EMP explosion and another artillery shell from the clone walker happened alongside each other. Whereas the droids within the radius of the EMP were fried into a different color and deactivated, the droids within the radius of the artillery shell were disintegrated beyond recognition.</p>
  <p>Cig put the hand opposite his shooting hand behind his back. He cleared his throat and nodded, looking at Mika. “Go, I’ll gradually catch up.” Cig said reluctantly. Mika nodded in affirmation. She put out her free hand, waving to Cig. “Keep them as far back as possible, I’ll see you at the ship.” Mika disappeared into the dense brush beside the tree she hid behind.</p>
  <p>Cig shot a few more bolts into the droids. “Ugh, that didn’t help at all. There are <em>so</em> many of them.” Another artillery blast form the tanks exploded on the droids, again reducing a cluster of fifty to metal and ashes.  This time, however, the droids closest to him were not the ones that were reduced to flaming shrapnel. Those continued to advance and so did the ones behind the obliterated.</p>
  <p>Cig tapped the button on his wrist. “Mika? Come in?” Radio static came for a moment, but a heavily distorted female voice on the other end. “Mika in.” “Alright, I need to catch up to you. Where are you exactly?” Cig asked, after firing multiple shots with his non-dominant hand. “The brush behind the tree I hid behind should make for good cover.  Count out twenty-five trees down a straight path and then get your right tree. After that just keep walking straight again. I think that makes our way out of the forest if we keep—” Cig heard a large explosion, five blaster shots (two from droids and three from Mika’s stolen pistol), radio static and then a scream of pain. “Mika! I’ll get to you. Don’t worry.” Cig clenched his lower lip and his face drooped. <em>We can’t lose you, I can’t bear it and master Sarankar wouldn’t either. </em>Cig thought.</p>
  <p>Cig ran through the brush. He gracefully avoided the constant blaster fire coming from the droids. He was quick—quicker than he thought he would be. He found Mika lying there, shrapnel stuck in her legs, a bloody face, and tattered robes. “Mika, you shouldn’t show yourself to Master Sarankar this way.” Cig looked at Mika’s bloody, burnt face with a forced smile. “Oh, please—” Mika coughed. “Remember that time yo—ou were o—out looking like so—some sort of g-g-gang—” Mika coughed again, this time she expelled blood. “gan—g—ster?” Mika coughed violently.</p>
  <p>Cig slapped the ground next to Mika. “Ahhk, “ Cig felt the momentary flash of pain from hitting solid dirt. “Gaah, you got me. But please save your energy, we’re really close to the extraction point.”</p>
  <p>Mika grabbed Cig’s thnd and put it up to her breast. She pressed it against it. “Go, go while you st—ill can.” Mika coughed again.</p>
  <p>“I’m taking you with me, I’m sure they can fix you up. You’re a valuable asset to all of us. It wouldn’t be right for me to leave you here.” Cig pleaded.</p>
  <p>“Y-ya, so a-ar y-o-ou.” The kneeling Cig released his hand from the grip of Mika. He adjusted his holstered his blaster. He wrapped one hand around the back of her neck and used the other arm to secure her legs. He raised his body, and hers, slowly. At the moment when he was half-standing, he felt a sharp burning around his butt. He tried to shake it off. His knees were slightly bent when he felt an even shaper burning in his neck. He cluched the back of his neck against itself. This did not help.</p>
  <p>Then—BLACK.</p>
</blockquote>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Freedom From the Bacta Chamber</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Cig previously floated almost still in his bacta chamber. Occasionally, his body would adjust itself to make better positioning within the viscous blue fluid. All up until now.</p><p>Cig’s eyes opened wide. He began to shake violently. The chamber’s thick glass snapped Cig into reality. It took a minute for him to calm down—at least he did. He proceeded to pant violently. <em>Did it happen again? I—I died again? </em>Cig thought as he patted himself in every possible place on his body. <em>Phew, I’m all here. I hate those blasted dreams. </em></p><p>Cig looked to his left. There were two white walls that came together at a corner. They were both bare—well all bare except for several outlets into which the bacta chamber was plugged in and a large window, which looked to be two meters from the corner of the wall. As he turned to the other shoulder, he noticed cabinets, a chair, a nurse’s station, a couple of tablets, some pill bottles, medical tools and another bacta chamber. Cig was just barely conscious enough long ago to know that Freiar was the woman in the second bacta chamber next to his. He looked up. The ceiling was high, too high beyond standard galactic regulations. Maybe around six-and-a-half meters? <em>Who knows?</em> The important thing was that wherever he was seemed luxurious.</p><p>Cig closed his eyes. He reached out to the Force. The Force showed him something disturbing. Since that night, Freiar must have been healing, but she was still very injured. <em>That guy I ought was stronger than I thought. He pulled her spine apart and messed up multiple internal organs with one punch? How could any normal species do that? </em>He asked himself as he learned of her damages.</p><p>He affirmed to himself that she was lucky to have survived the encounter with <em>that guy.</em> He too was lucky that he barely survived.</p><p>Cig opened his eyes and centered himself. A door directly in front of him opened. He was oblivious to it on his first look around the room. A tall, red medical droid emerged from the hallway. Its voice was muffled by the glass between them. “Master Zonkarra, I am RN-7, your personal medical droid for the duration of your stay here.” The droid said. He must’ve sounded like a muttering man because as he said, “Thank you, RA. How long have I been out?” the droid just stood there. The droid just looked at him. He repeated himself, this time louder. He received a response the second time around: “You have been in a nearly comatose state for around two days. It is a miracle in the Force that you survived that many punches from Qi’ro. Usually wo or three is enough to end a patient’s life on the spot.”</p><p>Cig tried to position himself lower within the fluid, as he was floating towards the top of the chamber. Looking down was becoming uncomfortable. He managed to push himself to the bottom. He held himself down uncomfortably by holding his hands over his head and constantly flapping them downward.</p><p>“So, two days?” Cig posted a look of visible confusion on his face. “Technically three, master. You were plain unconscious for another half of a day, and you slept well for the past eight hours.” The droid corrected him. “Now how am I looking at the moment?”</p><p>The droid pressed a button on the tablet it held. Some lights above Cig turned on. <em>Red lights.</em> Some below him also turned on. <em>Same color</em>. Cig looked in amazement. He heard a soft, rhythmic beeping sound. Several seconds later, the lights above Cig turned green. Moments later, the ones below turned the same color. “Master, you have two options: one being that I can release you and you can take a stim to provide you with a few doses of medicine after you leave this room, second you can leave tomorrow; in which case, I will inform Lady Sarama and she can accompany you in your last day of healing.” The robot looked at Cig intently. One of its fingers hovered above the tablet. Cig hesitated. “So, what’ll it be, master?”</p><p>Cig rolled his eyes way from the fixed gaze of the droid for a few moments and rotated its head to look toward Freiar. After carefully considering the options for a mere fifteen seconds, he set his mind on the first option. He looked back at the droid. “Doc, I’ll take the first option. That is, if it does not interfere too much with the healing process of my body.” He said with a smile.</p><p>The droid tapped a button on its tablet. “Splendid, master! I will inform Lady Sarama. We will be back around shortly.” The droid made a small motion as if it was tipping a hat to Cig and tilted its head. The droid turned and left the room. The room’s dead silence made it so the could clearly hear the motors that powered his respiration system. Bacta was marvelous and a godsend. The advanced medical technology in the Galaxy was equally fascinating. </p><p>The high ceiling of the bacta chamber made an interesting time for a now fully conscious Cig. Whereas Freiar seemed to be floating comfortable near the middle of the chamber, he was floating much lower than the perceived center of the chamber. He tried pushing himself up, however this motion pushed him slightly above the middle. <em>Huh, maybe I am too dense to be stay centered in the chamber. </em>Cig concluded.</p><p>He allowed himself to float however much gravity would let him. He gradually settled towards a position near the center of the chamber. By his estimation, his head seemed to be around half a meter from the top-most part of Freiar’s head. <em>Interesting, </em>He thought. <em>Would’ve thought I’d sink less than this. Guess muscle really is that dense in bacta fluid.</em> Cig stood in that position, occasionally oscillating in waves, waiting with crossed arms.</p><p>Cig closed his eyes. He reached out to the Force. <em>Tell me, what must I do, where must I go? I need a peaceful solution to my role in whatever I must participate. </em>He saw a gray haze. It eventually cleared into five silhouettes that looked royal. They held vibroswords. He saw them all join their blades in a circle. He then saw a crowd of multicolored silhouettes cheering in a large ceremony. He then saw a black fog that eventually cleared into a man with a gray beard and light brown hair in bondage. He kneeled, weak and dreary faced. His vision transitioned to him putting a hand on the man’s shoulder and freeing him. It then went on to the man standing, resting a hand on his shoulder, and then them both carrying another man into a dungeon. Everything faded to white.</p><p>Cig opened his eyes, smile set upon his face. He saw the door open and Mika and RN-7 enter the room. RN-7 went to face Cig again. “Master, I will now empty your chamber out and allow you to exit.” The droid said, again, pressing a button on its tablet.</p><p>A suction tube sucked all of the bacta fluid out within a couple of minutes. Then the droid pressed another button on its tablet. It took a few steps back. The chamber opened. He emerged from the chamber. The droid put his tablet to the side. “I will leave you two to talk. It seems you wanted to see him badly, Lady.” The droid turned its head to look back at Cig. “Master.” It nodded to Cig. “Thank you, RN.” Cig nodded back.</p><p>The droid rolled out of the room.</p><p>Mika looked at Cig’s bare chest. “Looking good, <em>Zonkarra!</em> How has it been since we last spoke?” Mika threw a robe she was holding onto one of the doctors’ chairs.</p><p>Cig swallowed, closing his eyes for a moment, drooping his head and opening his eyes again. He snorted and opened his eyes like someone high on spice. He cleared his throat and then looked came back to reality. “Mi—<em>Sarama</em>, things haven’t gone down to well for me lately. The war ended badly and I haven’t found a place to hide that could accommodate for what you are well aware I have.” Cig put his head down and rubbed his forehead. He looked back up. “Is this a safe place?” He asked reluctantly.</p><p>Mika went from a relaxed position to crossing her arms and rubbing her left elbow vigorously. “Perhaps. However, the Empire is breathing down our necks. The Ferrokana has been preventing the Empire from coming here. The Empire is just as brutal, if not less than the Ferrokana army. I really hope they push out the Empire for your sake.” Mika said, easing up her outward appearance.</p><p>Cig also momentarily eased himself. “Well, “ He hesitated. “I should be safe for the time being while we come up with a plan to do whatever this planet needs with the sword. Right?” Cig rubbed his chin.</p><p>Mika reached for her back pocket. “Sure you will. That is, until you and I see the empire on our doorstep. You’ll be forced to high tail if you decide to show that you are who you are at any point. They will send an assassin after you, maybe worse. Hopefully not—” Cig interjected. “Worse? What can be worse than some Mandalorian-or-other assassin that has faster reflexes than me?” Cig crossed his arms. Mika squinted in confusion. “You don’t know about the inquisition?” She asked. “No, who are they?” Cig asked in a more puzzled fashion than of Mika moments ago. Silence. Mika telepathically pulled a holocube from somewhere in the room which Cig hadn’t seen. “A few of my friends from this planed are doctors. That’s why I have access to this place, this private bacta chamber. A while ago, some Jedi slipped here from The Ferrokana and some assassin with a lightsaber came after him. I have camera footage of what an inquisitor can do.” Mika pressed a button in the cube and a hologram slowly came up.</p><p>The hologram was vivid. The camera faced out of an alleyway. It faced what looked to be a fruit stand. Cig could hear a man buying some Jogan fruit at the stand. He paid for it. Moments later, as he began to set himself up to eat it, another man came to buy fruit. “If it isn’t Makar Sul, your distributors send in the best food to this decrepit world. The man said in scowl. “Decrepit? We are backwater, no doubt about that. We are civilized though.” The vendor got defensive. “And you are harboring a Jedi here as well. Don’t lie to me!” the other man demanded. “I have no idea who this Jedi is. Don’t take me for a fool.” The vendor reached for something under the counter. From the camera’s view, the vendor was reaching for a blaster.</p><p>Cig gazed in near amazement. “So, I’m guessing our <em>Jedi</em> is gets caught?” Cig asked. Mika looked stern at Cig. “Don’t get ahead of yourself.”</p><p>It went on. The vendor fully unholstered his blaster from in the counter. He shot a bundle of wiring just to the right of his foot. He nodded. “You are a dirty liar! You just marked your bluff in red paint you idiot.” The man ignited a lightsaber and cut the vendor’s neck. He kneeled and picked up a fruit from the bottom tier of the stand. “Such a shame that an honest vendor had to bite it.” He said as he cleaned it on his vest. He turned around and sheathed his lightsaber. He put it on his belt.</p><p>The man took a bite of his newly acquired fruit. “Melhor Djarik, I know you are running. Come and put yourself to rest. I will make it easy, just come to me and you will live to see His Excellency, Our Emperor Palpatine.”</p><p>Faintly, yet surely, Cig heard the other man speak. “I will do no such thing! Your Emperor is not my ruler and the Empire is not my government. I am loyal to the Republic, to the ideals of freedom and the ability of the Jedi to be free to protect the galaxy form ruffians like you.” The man’s voice seemed stern, no inflections and no fear were detectable.</p><p>The man ignited his lightsaber again. “Then you are foolish. Face me you embicile.” The man held his arm up with a cupped hand up in the air. The Jedi slowly came into frame, hovering above the ground and gasping for air. With one hand, he held his neck. He used his other hand to grope about his belt in quick motions, struggling to get his weapon to defend himself. After a few moments, he was able to muster the power to ignite his own lightsaber. Just in time—just in time to counter what would have been a fatal impaling blow! The man growled.</p><p>They exchanged a few blows. The Jedi began to retreat towards the camera. They continued to exchange blows. As the duel wore on, the blows from the man began to get more and more aggressive in his blows. The camera panned as the Jedi and the man began to move out of its field of view. As fast a the two men went down the alley, the duel had finished. The man revealed a trick—a double-bladed lightsaber. Upon revealing the second blade, he taunted the Jedi. “I didn’t want it to come to this. I fear that the Emperor will not get to meet you.”</p><p>“As if I wanted to do that? Your arrogance clouds your vision.” The jedi quipped back. The man laughed. “You don’t even know how to react to your own death. What a shame.” The man moved his lightsaber in an upward motion. This motion threw the Jedi’s lightsaber up. This left an opening. The man lunged his lightsaber forward. The Jedi tried to jump backward. He was mostly out of the way, but the man’s lightsaber managed to graze his chest. The Jedi groaned in pain. He fell to his knees. The man taunted the Jedi. “Say your last goodbyes to your pathetic existence, scum.” The Jedi said nothing. The man impaled him through the heart. He kicked the Jedi backwards. The Jedi’s eyes were open wide and lifeless. The man sheathed both sides of his lightsaber and attached it to his belt. He reached out his hand to call out for the vendor’s blaster. He shot the camera twice. The recording experienced a bout of static but was not cut. The man growled. He clenched aa fist and hurled the blaster foo to the side. He raised a hand to the camera and slowly clenched it into a fist as he opened his mouth, “Let this be a warning to any Jedi still standing: I will find you and you will perish!” the feed cut.</p><p>Cig smirked. “I have to admit, that guy was menacing. Makes you think--” He hesitated. “more like reflect on how obsessed the Empire is with hunting Jedi. You’d think that they wouldn’t have assassins of that caliber coning to backwater places like this.” Mika crossed her arms. “Well yes. The first time I saw that, my blood boiled. That could’ve been you or me.” Cig nodded and waddled near the chair. “I’ve had my share of run-ins with imperial troops and people who would otherwise get at me. I’ve ran into bounty hunters and rough and tough soldier types who could’ve taken me down swiftly. Never would I have known that they have those guys.” Cig picked up the robe. “If it were me, these abdominals and this cheery disposition,” Cig smiled and slapped his abs. “would beat an inquisitor with bravado.” Cig motioned as if he held a lightsaber. He waved it around a couple of times and then looked down and pointed the fake saber with a scowl.</p><p>Mika covered her mouth with one hand. She giggled. “I see. You’d do it charmingly, Master. Wouldn’t you?” She mocked.  “Yes, very surely madam. I reckon it may never happen, though.” They both laughed.</p><p>A few moments later, the laughter subsided. Cig began to break the robe’s neatly folded form. Mika smiled and nodded. “Alright, I’ll leave you to your thing Cig. Just come out and walk left to our relaxing area.” Mika said with a smile and a bubbly tone. Cig nodded in affirmation.</p><p>As Mika left the room, Cig finished transforming the folded robe into a full length, wearable garment. The long robe was both silky smooth yet warm as thick animal skin or fur. Cig undid the fastening tassels and slowly put it on. Wearing it was a heavenly feeling. It treated the skin underneath much like a warm towel given after a lavish dinner party would. Cig smiled as he used his hands to press it up against skin. Pure euphoria. “Thank you, Mika or whoever else set this out for me.” He muttered to himself.</p><p>Near the door, there was a large reflective glass panel. Cig stared at himself. <em>Next thing I do is get a trim and… a nice meal! </em>Cig thought as he frowned in the mirror and felt his stomach growl. He was indifferent to the checkered pattern with dominant cobalt blue hues which the robe’s pigment consisted of. <em>I’ve seen worse, yet I’ve also seen better. </em>He thought. <em>It’ll do for now. Where are my robes, though? </em></p><p>As he began to walk out of the room, Cig felt something—something called out to him. He stopped in his tracks and closed his eyes. He took a breath. He saw emerald green eyes and heard a female voice call for help followed by a shrill scream. The blood vessel near the tear duct of this eye burst and the crimson color of blood consumed the beautiful eye. “I have failed you, friend. You must avenge—” The female voice faded and was replaced by a coarse and bruiting male voice which began to cackle. The crimson color in the eye disappeared and was replaced by reddish brown eyes, as those he had. The voice stopped cackling and spoke. “Worry not, she will live. She will live to serve us, not your cause. Now you must submit at pain of death!” Silhouettes of two swords clashed. The swords prompted the eyes to become consumed by opposing energies—one of fire and another of light. Their control of the eyes fluctuated, ebbs and flows in the regions they controlled led to an ending. The light eventually brightened out the fire. The eyes faded.</p><p>Cig opened his own eyes. He was disoriented, a sharp pain came across his head. <em>Ugh, what’s happening? What are these visions? </em>Cig thought. He stopped and clutched his head. The pain quickly subsided. He continued on. The door opened in front of him, a quiet sliding motion that exposed a mostly empty hallway. He looked down both sides of the hallway. The muted emerald colored wall in front of Cig was mostly bare, except for a door and a holo-frame with some image inside it. The doors on the other wall seemed to be offset by the right edges of the doorways on Cig’s side. <em>Eh, stock. Commendable at least. </em>Cig mused. <em>Not what I would do, but that’s good enough</em>. When he looked down his wall, the same pattern emerged.</p><p>Cig turned left and walked down the hallway. He eventually saw something he hadn’t seen before: a sort of border at the top of the walls. He saw that there were borders that held shapes. On one side, there was a set of two crimson lines which encapsulated a series of outlined triangles and circles. On the other side, the pattern was very similar—essentially the same—except that the inner shapes were filled in and outlined in black.</p><p>Cig briskly strolled through the hallway. The walls were not much to look at. They had their moment of interesting attachments, but they were mostly bare. The holo-frames held stills of people, things and places.</p><p>Cig stopped at one frame. He saw a Twi’lek man standing in a military pose. The man had a hat that predominantly covered the space between the bases of his lekku. One of these appendages was visible-it was draped over his shoulder. <em>Colonel Syn Tarre Gerranek. </em>He saluted the picture. <em>You were as brilliant a strategist as my Maser, if not better. Hopefully you are still around. </em>He thought. He released his salute. “hopefully we meet again, Tarre.” He whispered.</p><p>Cig continued walking down the hallway. He saw three more frames filled with Freiar’s hologram as he walked down the hallway. Each image was unique. Each image had Freiar dressed in some sort of elaborate fashion. In one image, Freiar wore her hair held back and donned a headdress paired with a jacket that had some kind of thick animal skin in it. Underneath the jacket was some sort of thin tunic. In another image, Freiar wore a thin, strapless dress and curled hair draped over her shoulders. The final image Cig saw was Freiar at opening day ceremony. She held some sort of blade that was fashioned to imitate the sheath of the sword he found. The image showed her dressed in a similar outfit to the one she wore at the bar when he last saw her. She was in motion, about to cut what looked like a cloth band.</p><p>Cig inspected the image deeper. To the right of Freiar, he saw Saami, who donned a similar fashion to Freiar. It was nearly the same clothing, yet the hair was cut short and her head lacked the headdress Frreiar wore. On the opposite side of Freiar was a shorter man, probably the bard they spoke of at the restaurant. He wore a vest over a shirt, paired with expensive-looking pants and what looked like leather boots. The man’s face showed a smirk that suggested slight disappointment yet was still pleasant enough to be happy.</p><p>There were several other people behind Freiar and on either side of her as well. There were several humans and twi’leks standing in the frame. Each person was dressed in traditionally formal attire that looked—expensive. Everyone was well dressed. Cig smiled and nodded. <em>Wow, these people are so interesting.</em> Cig mused. He continued to walk down the hallway in hopes of catching Mika again to speak to her about their plan of action.</p><p>After walking down the hallway around fifty meters more, Cig walked into a open living area. This area contained several couches and accompaniment tables, a couple of holo-screens, what looked to be a full-service minibar, and a large card-playing table. There were several people sitting on the couches watching some program on the holo-screens. There were also a few people standing about the room chatting with one another. Just another normal social gathering Cig was underdressed for.</p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. The Plans</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The room was vibrant and Cig wasn’t ready to turn heads by being the least prepared for the situation. Cig leaned on the wall and laughed to himself. <em>I really am losing it. I lost a perfectly winnable fight and now—now I’m so uncomfortable with what I have been given. </em>Cig mused. He stared into the room, scoping it out for any sign of Mika or the other woman with her at the bar—Tera. <em>Yes, Tera. The other one was called Tera!</em> Cig tried to work up his memory of what the woman looked like. <em>She was…hmmm… a shorter human with blond hair and tattoos on the sides of her face. A prominent nose and a thick scar down her chin. </em>Cig nodded to himself and scanned the room again.</p><p>Suddenly Cig felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked back and saw a long smile on a green face. A pleasant surprise. “Sarama, how are—” Cig whispered. Mika quickly moved her arms from her side to the front of her. She took a couple of steps forward. She wrapped them around Cig. She rested her head comfortably on Cig’s shoulder. “Where have you been, Cig?” She whispered into his ear. Cig reluctantly reciprocated the hug. “I have been roaming the galaxy as an outcast and outlaw. I get terrified when I find any new planet because someone may know me and turn me over to—” Mika released one arm from the hug and put her pointer finger on Cig’s mouth. “Shh, we’re safe here, unless the Empire bombs the hell out of The Ferrokana. They’ll do anything to get the jump on forces equally as fierce as them.”</p><p>Mika was rubbing Cig’s back. “Mika, what is it like here?” Cig asked, wary of Mika’s hand on his back. “Well, good for me and the ones that have nothing to do with the war going on here. Outside of this outpost, everything is a whole other hell greater than anything I want to remember from the Clone Wars. People tell me things that happen out there and I want to—” Mika hesitated. She pursed her lips and let her face sink. “I want to cry ten nights straight, gather the tears, and make them into something that can unite everyone and stop innocent people from losing their lives and livelihoods.” Mika sighed.</p><p>Cig raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, I feel you. I feel similarly about the Empire. They took it all from all of us, you included. The Jedi are all but a memory now. They—” Mika interrupted. “You’re telling me that the Empire took out all of the Jedi? Really, I can hardly believe that <em>all</em> of the Jedi other than us are gone.” Mika shook her head. Cig swallowed and closed his eyes. “Well, I’ve been one for exaggerating things lately. Masters Obi Wan, Yoda, Ki’Kruuk and a couple of others are alive. I think Ahsoka Tano and Dollan Seris are also still breathing, I don’t know that though. So, the list really is limited.” Cig and Mika continued to whisper back and forth. “Ahsoka Tano is still alive?” Mika’s face looked as if she won the Jackpot while gambling. “I never really thought someone like her would stick it out this long.” Mika smirked. Cig shook his head. “I would have expected no less from her. She was Skywalker’s padawan after all!” They both paused awkwardly.</p><p>By this point, the two former Jedi were only standing in front of each other, arms by their sides. They glanced deeply into each other’s eyes. “We’d better get out there. They might be waiting for you.” Cig said in a concerned manner. Mika said nothing. Her top lip was clenched over her bottom. The bottom lip was trembling slightly. Cig saw this.</p><p>Cig put his left hand on her right shoulder. “Well, I’m glad for the least of blessings. I appreciate my good luck in having at least one friend here at the start of what looks to be a mess.” Cig smiled, moved his hand off her shoulder, and turned away.</p><p>Mika smiled and her eyes lit up again. She tapped Cig’s shoulder. “I think you’ve got more than that. You’ll have an even closer ally to consult for your mission and <em>other things</em>.” Mika raised her eyebrows and , likely unconsciously, blinked her left eye. Cig smiled back. He again turned to face the room. “Let’s go. They’re waiting for us.” Cig nodded his head, motioning her to follow him. She followed beside him.</p><p>Cig looked down at Mika’s face. Her face, somehow, showed visible disgust and excitement at the same time. Puzzling, yet welcome. Cig couldn’t help himself, “Something’s bothering you, Sarama?” He asked. “Huh, nt much, but two things keep coming to mind: one being that we keep camming each other nicknames in private and, secondly, that you did not remember my signals at Freiar’s pace the other day.” Mika glared at Cig. “Sorry, I think time will alleviate both of those concerns.” Cig smiled slightly. Mika sighed and smirked. “Yeah, you’d better get your head in the game. Don’t go under.” Mika laughed. Cig glared back. Mika sheepishly opened her eyes wide. Cig quickly posted a more pleasant look. Mika nodded and they began to walk for the room.</p><p>Cig was observing Mika without her even recognizing it. She seemed to be calculating something in her head and deciding where to sit at the same time. They both peered into the room and observed all of the people. Mika looked a Cig again. “So some of the people you may want to ally with for your mission are here in this room. Who should I introduce first?” Cig hesitated and closed his eyes. Cig called out to the Force. He quickly made his decision. “Those five on the near couch.” He said confidently. Mika looked and smiled. “Good choice, you will like those five. They are very friendly.” Mika noted.</p><p>The couch they concluded on walking to first was an L-shaped couch that sat two people on one length and six on the other. As they got closer, Cig noticed that three women and two men sat on the couch. On the closer piece of the L, sat two of the women. The other three sat towards the outer edge of the couch. Mika overtook Cig and walked two strides in front of him. “I’ll introduce you!” she said.</p><p>They walked closer and closer to the couch. As they continued to walk towards the empty seats. The two women sitting on the near side turned toward them. One woman was a greenish-yellow skinned, blue eyed Twi’lek with one lek drooped over her right shoulder and a sort of earring hanging off of her right ear. The other was a brown human with brown eyes who wore her hair back in a head scarf. It looked as both women looked them and made jokes to each other once they saw the two of them walking toward them.</p><p>Upon being close enough to speak to the two women, Mika greeted the both of them. “Hey Sarama, who’s the buddy-boy?” The first one said. The second one seemed to be trying to distance herself from the first. She looked up at Cig and smiled at him. She also sheepishly waved.</p><p>Mika addressed the first woman. “Aya, he’s just a friend, I’m not looking for that kind of relationship now. Plus we <em>are </em>at war right now.” Mika looked sternly at the Aya. Aya grinned slightly.</p><p>The other woman spoke softly. “And you, who are you? I’d be glad to make your acquaintance.” Cig looked at her. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, I’m Zankarra. And you are?” He asked pleasantly and smiled at her. She immediately began to slouch and quiver. She held her arms at her chest and began to rub the end of her lek softly with her left hand.</p><p>“I’m Miura. Nice to meet you too!” Miura said in an even softer voice. She crossed her legs tightly and put the other arm over her crossed legs. Aya glared at her.</p><p>Aya furrowed her brow. “Sarama, why did you bring a guy like that over here?” Aya said sternly. Miura quivered slightly.</p><p>Mika crossed her arms. “Give him a chance. We found him at Freiar’s place. He may be our trump card.” Mika said excitedly.</p><p>Miura sat back in her seat in an even more uncomfortable position then before. Aya looked at her and tilted her own head as a motion to liberate her from her uncomfortable situation. Miura nodded in affirmation and left.</p><p>Mika was confused. “What happened to Miura since we last saw each other?” Mika asked with genuine shock in her voice.</p><p>Aya crossed her arms. ”She was attacked by three <em>Zankarrek</em> in the streets near her home. They humiliated her in front of her friends and caused her problems that she will never recover from. It’ll go deeper than just not liking the name. She gets terrified of men that look even a little more muscular than a well-built manual laborer.” Aya looked disgusted.</p><p>One of the men sitting in the group beside Mika spoke louder than a whisper. “I have heard of this man, miss Aya. I hear is said to be a great warrior. He will help to break the stalemate in our war and—” He stood up and started speaking to the room. “grant us our independence. He will help us avenge all of horrible things the Ferrokana has put our women and children through. Most of all, he will avenge the men who have died for our independence!” The man raised his arm. “For freedom, for our fathers, for Sebestag!”</p><p>Aya glared at the man. “Naru, are you drunk? You know that we’re not ready to get more people in on this yet?” Mika and Aya asked in unison.</p><p>The man shrugged. “People really want this war to end. My family and friends will do anything to see this war end. This war has been on since my older brother was born. He’s forty standard years now. I can’t fathom how we could have put millions of people through that long a war.” The man sat down with a look of defeat on both his face and the rest of his body.</p><p>Mika continued. “So Aya, at some point in the near future, we might need your assistance. We want to find a way to go across the planet and gain the blessings of strength from each state. Since you’re a combat medic, I figured you wouldn’t mind contributing your skills to our cause.” Mika looked at Aya authoritatively.</p><p>Aya shrugged. “I would have to ask my commanding officer. Unlike that drunkard, Moiran, I have a government job to hold. If I’m caught serving any other army than my own, I will be discharged. The costs far outweigh the benefits” Aya said squinting.</p><p>“Can’t you ask your commanding officer to lead a small team to escort us through everywhere to have a better means of self-defense?” Mika asked.</p><p>Aya rubbed her shoulder. “I can’t guarantee anything.” She looked ponderous. “I can try at some point.”</p><p>Mika furrowed her brow. “Tomorrow. We’ll spend the rest of our day planning to give my friend some rest. We’ll go out and gather a group tomorrow and start our quest.”</p><p>Aya looked straight out of the window in front of her. “See all of those trees out there?” Aya asked in a ponderous tone, almost as if she was about to divulge wisdom of a philosopher. “Well, this area is an outpost just outside of a tropical forest. You know that already, right?”</p><p>Mika nodded. “Yes, I have been here long enough to know that all of the people revere the forest because it’s the only connection to nature they feel they have. This city is generally al cleared and perfect. And I’d guess from what I take of the people from outside of town, that other places have it worse in comparison.” Mika thought she had the best guess she could think of.</p><p>Aya shot Mika a look of affirmation. “I would say it differently, but you get the gist.” Aya said sarcastically. Mika smiled and shook her head. “That forest engulfs most of the planet. We will need to use it to get the drop on the Ferrokana’s forces besieging the cities and push them out.” Aya said.</p><p>Mika crossed her arms. “But we may not get all the forces to destroy the sieges.” She countered.</p><p>Aya shook her head. “Just by finding a way to get a small hole in the sieges and get some people in will give us a chance to earn the respect of the rulers. That guarantees us a chance, at least a chance, at gaining support from that army.” Aya pointed out.</p><p>Mika nodded. “Yeah, I see that. Now I wonder what we’ll do for those areas controlled by Ferrokana loyalists.” Mika tapped her chin ponderously. “We don’ force them into submission, do we?” She asked.</p><p>Aya stood quiet a few moments, musing. She finally spoke with a flick of her pointer finger. “We could surround the loyalist areas with our allies. We then threaten the areas with conquest if they don’t submit to us.” Cig felt like this was said all in one breath since Aya seemed winded at the end of the statement.</p><p>Cig glared at Aya. Aya moved her head slightly as if trying to push his gaze off. A bitter silence fell upon the group. “Are the loyalists loyal by choice or are that by force?” Cig questioned Aya.</p><p>Aya calmed her body. “At least partly by choice. In some cases, The Ferrokana put in puppet leaders to drive the people in their direction.”</p><p>“In that case, if we could have special groups to take those areas, we could persuade the people to see it our way. They will eventually join our force and we will have enough power to fulfill our goals.”</p><p>“That plan seems sound, but I don’t see why we can’t show them our might. The Ferrokana has had its way with our women, nearly enslaved our children in some places, and killed many of our men without hesitation. Plus they deserve a blaster bolt for a blaster bolt.” Aya’s voice sounded seething in anger. And resentment.</p><p>Cig nodded in disappointment. “It seems to me you think vengeance is the become equal with your adversary. Is that right?” Aya nodded in affirmation. “I fought in the clone Wars with Sarama before she and I arrived here. We can attest to seeing horrible atrocities and exploitation of citizens. However, we have learned through experience that diplomacy is the best means to winning a war.” Cig said.</p><p>“How can I let my forces be diplomatic with people who support savages that abuse people?” Aya asked.</p><p>Cig crossed his arms. “All lives are irreplaceable and we need to try to waste as little as possible. You know as well as do that there are real costs to war.” Cig said sternly.</p><p>Aya scoffed. “Huh, so you’re saying that I should risk losing more men then I would have just fighting aas normal?” Aya mused.</p><p>“Negotiations may falter, but negotiations are more worth in this case than a full out battle. Am I right?”</p><p>“Partially. The areas we need to take from loyalists are nearly split in half by sentiments. We can easily rally all onto our side if we play it safely, but that may be easier said than done. There are radical loyalists for Ferrokana that the puppets could activate at any moment and mess up our plans in many ways.” Aya sighed.</p><p>“Radicals? In what way?”</p><p>“Zan, the radicals adhere to the state religion and would <em>dis honorably</em> for the king of Ferrokana. You know, put on a vest and fill it with explosives and go <em>boom!</em>” Aya frowned in disgust.</p><p>“And they really have that much disregard for innocents. Wow.”</p><p>“Surely. Seeing an attack like that leaves one scarred for life.” Aya trembled and closed her eyes. Cig could hear her whispering to herself and staring blankly out of the window in front of her. He turned to Mika with a concerned look. “She thinks about the attack on the capital city fairly often. It was horrible. It puts knots in my stomach when I just so happen to think about it.” Mika whispered to Cig. <em>Don’t close your eyes. Do not empathize. </em>Cig mused. <em>You’ve had enough pain in your bones for one day. </em></p><p>Cig’s instinct kicked in without warning. He felt his muscles grow tense. Some even clenched thoroughly or went numb. Something conjured a devastating image in his mind. Many bodies were spread across a large area. Massive buildings were crushed in many areas, some even totally levelled. Normally colorful buildings were painted with brownish crimson burn marks and some were even stained with a more muted crimson. Body parts were even spread from their core bodies in some areas.</p><p>Cig was so entranced in the desolation that he didn’t feel his face sink totally into sadness, Mika rubbed his shoulder and shook him slightly. “Come back.” She whispered to Cig. Cig’s eyes opened. “I lost you for a moment there, C—Zan.” Mika said. “ Ugh. That was---” Cig stopped unexpectedly. “That was not only horrifying—” Mika interrupted Cig. “There are really no words to describe that event. I was there and so many people were incinerated and crushed. Crazy to think only five people placed strategically could level an entire city.” Mika shook and trembled. Cig put his arm around Mika. She did the same in a shakier manner.</p><p>Mika snapped into reality. She looked up at Cig “Let’s not bring ourselves down like this. I can’t take too much of this anymore.” Cig saw the distress in her eyes and nodded in agreement. Cig brought her closer. She smiled and made herself comfortable in his warm presence.</p><p>Five minutes felt like an eternity of warmth and comfort for both Cig and Mika. That is all it took for Aya to snap back into reality and put her horrible memories aside. “Sarama, Zan.” Aya called out.</p><p>Mika and Cig separated and focused at attention.</p><p>Aya rubbed a small amount of sweat off of her forehead and began to speak. “Sorry for the moment, I couldn’t help it.” Mika looked directly into the center of Aya’s eyes. “None of us could help going into a trance while remembering such a horrifying moment like that.” Mika pointed out.</p><p>Aya nodded. “Mhm. Are we going to continue?” She asked. “We need to minimize the amount of damage to civilians so we can actually have their support.” Cig and Mika said at the same time. Aya was moving her palms across her knees. “I can’t say how exactly this will go down. I just hope it will be smoother than what I’ve seen out there. Mika and Cig nodded in agreement.</p><p>…</p><p>Mika, Cig and Aya continued the planning talk until the early evening. In that time they further discussed how they would take on the situations where civilians would get between them and their goals. They also talked about breaking through the sieges of the towns and cities that were held by Ferrokana forces. They decided that they would need to employ the technical skills of Miura to help better monitor their adversaries and accurately predict next moves.</p><p>The sky outside was getting darker by the minute. The sun was beginning to set on the horizon and the sky had the beautiful oranges and yellows of a planet with a normal-sized star. “The sunsets on this planet are some of the most beautiful I’ve seen among all of the planets I’ve been on, huh?” Mika said looking at Cig. Cig gave her a half-smile. “I see all of those sunsets as beautiful.” Cig said jokingly. Mika scoffed. “Huh, point taken.” Mika clasped her arm around Cig’s and pulled herself closer to him.</p><p>A very tall man wearing a chef’s uniform took it upon himself to break the moment. “Hey, lovebirds, sorry to ruin your moment. Do you guys want anything to eat? The bartender is going to leave in a half-hour.” The man said with a slight hint of distaste. “Hey keep your—” Mika said standoffishly. Cig pushed her shoulder back. She stopped in her tracks and glared at Cig. Cig spoke. “I think she means that we want some of—” Mika interrupted Cig. I’ll have some of that roasted chicken we had earlier.” Mika said excitedly. Cig looked at Mika and smiled. “I wouldn’t mind having that either. Can I get a plate of that with a cup of Kessel spice cooler?” Cig addressed the man. “Sure, we can do that, just in time for closing.” They both nodded at the man and thanked him.</p><p>Mika looked around the room to make sure there was no one still present. “What do you think of it here, Cig?” She asked. Cig rupped his beard. “My first impression was that they are pleasant people with no ill will. Even the drunkards are pleasant for the most part.” Cig replied. Mika smiled and sat back comfortably in her seat. “Yeah. They are pretty hospitable. I’ve only been here for around four years and worked as hard as I would back in the day. Remember?” Cig rubbed his beard again and mused for a few moments. “Surely do. You used to call the rest of us slackers after you got into the nitty-gritty of things.” Cig laughed. Mika looked at Cig confusedly. She quickly changed her mind, though. “Man, Freiar seems to trust me so much these days.” Mika got closer to Cig and began to whisper in his ear. “She gave me half of this building to either own outright, without fee, or to rent out.” Cig gasped and furrowed his brow. “Huh, you really own that many rooms?” Mika nodded in affirmation. “You are amazing. Do you have a room for me?” Cig asked. Mika nodded.</p><p>The smell of the roasting chicken filled the room. Mika smiled. “That smells so great.” She said. She pressed her palms together and then rubbed them against one another. “I honestly get so excited for this food when I smell it.” Mika said excitedly.</p><p>Cig looked at Mika and smiled. “Yep. Ever since I got here, the first good quality of this city was that food. All of the local foods smell the best in the outer rim. Some even taste more amazing then they smell.” Cig sat back comfortably in his seat.</p><p>Mika looked into the distant hallway almost in a daydream. A few minutes passed. Cig allowed her to take those few minutes. “I missed you all of these years. Where have you been, Cig?” Mika asked. She slowly turned back to Cig. “I was wandering the outer rim.” Cig said quickly. “How’s Draco?” Mika followed up her previous question. Cig’s face sank and he looked away. Mika immediately recognized what Cig was thinking. She quickly put her hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry. He was like a good father and a wise friend.” Cig and Mika locked eyes for several moments. He held back a tear. Mika held a look of concern on her face.</p><p>The somber moment was broken by the man who had asked about food earlier. <em>Oh, yes. The food’s done. </em>Cig thought. He felt strongly that Mika thought the same thing.</p><p>Cig sipped at his drink first thing. The cold, bittersweet drink burned his throat in the most satisfying way possible. He let out a sigh of satisfaction.</p><p>Mika took the first bite from her chicken. She savored it. Cig put his cup on the coffee table in front of him and picked up the plate containing the chicken. He used one hand to grab the chicken. He carefully bit off the piece atop the skewer. Cig closed his eyes, as he always did when he had the first bite of good food. The sweet and sour flavor of the chicken is what he felt first. He chewed it with a smile on his face. He then tasted the tenderness. It was perfectly cooked and it fell apart in the mouth as much as chicken should.</p><p>They finished what was an exquisitely tasting snack. Cig put his plate on the table. Mika and him looked at each other. Cig sighed and looked at the floor. He looked back up at Mika. “What brought you here?” he asked with an equivalent look of concern as that which Mika gave before they ate.  “I was sent covertly to take a <em>lost</em> Jedi master back to the temple. I feel like it’s instinctive that I got involved in the war and crossed paths with these people. I sensed this Jedi many times and he feels a lot like—” Mika stopped. Cig looked at Mika with wide eyes. “Like what?” he asked.</p><p>Mika grabbed his hand and closed her eyes. “Like, like you? Why does he feel a lot like you?” Mika said, looking over Cig’s right shoulder.</p><p>“Are you sure? We may be related or there may be something a bit more sinister at play.” Cig said.</p><p>“Yep.” Mika sighed. “I wish we could get him. He always gets away at the last second.” Mika put her plate down on the coffee table. She turned her entire body toward Cig. She crossed her lags on the couch. “Cig, we should sleep soon. There’s a room I’ve been saving for you.” She dug into her pocket and pulled out a small micro room key. “Don’t lose this for as long as you’re here. It’s on me.” Cig posted a look of shock on his face. “Really, you are giving me a room? Isn’t this against some kind of corporate rule or something?” Cig was perplexed. Mika shook her head. “Freiar knew you were coming for a while now. It was just a matter of time before you arrived. She knew that. She told me to give this to you.”</p><p>Cig grabbed the key gracefully and proceeded to stand up. Mika grabbed his arm. “Remember earlier, when Aya looked at you and said someone needs to get Miura into the main attack force? Well she seems to want you to be the one to redeem your relationship with Miura.”</p><p>Cig looked at her with a look of shock. “Why wouldn’t you guys talk together? You all are friends, aren’t you?” Cig asked, utterly confounded. Mika shook her head. “And you and Draco were the reasonable ones.” Mika mocked. She also nudged Cig’s arm. Cig had a brief moment of anger internally.</p><p>Mika looked sternly at Cig. “I think you should make your case for her to accept you and come with us. She won’t be completely comfortable with you at first, but I know she will warm up to you eventually. She is very friendly, and you are very charming. Please go see her.” Mika pleaded.</p><p>Cig covered Mika’s hand with his. He took a quick look back at her. He nodded. “I’ll do that.” Cig breathed. “I can’t guarantee it’ll work, but I’ll try. I’ll tell you what conclusions we come to in the morning.” Cig said. Mika looked relieved.</p><p>Mika took her hand off Cig’s shoulder. She nodded back. “Alright. Sleep well.” She said with a smile. Cig nodded once. “Likewise.” He responded. He began walking away, but Mika motioned for him to come back. As he walked back to her, Mika smiled at him. “Come here!” She said excitedly.</p><p>They stood there for ten long seconds, ten long and powerful seconds. In that small space of time felt a sense of security and comfort he hadn’t felt in a long time. He was reminded of his time at the Jedi temple learning with the masters, lounging around and sitting in meditation. In that moment, it was the safest and most comfortable place in the galaxy. Cig reveled in the moment. It could have lasted forever, and Cig would not have minded.</p><p>The moment came to an end and they parted ways. Mika sat back on the couch and fixed her eyes on her datapad. Cig, on the other hand, made his way to Miura’s room. He, again, admired the paintings and holograms on his way there.</p><p>He arrived at her door quicker than he expected. He knocked. Miura’s voice sounded irritated. “Who is it?” she asked. “It’s me.” Cig said with a voice in slightly deeper key than normal. Miura took a moment to respond. “What d’ya need?” She responded in a slightly defensive tone. “Mi—” Cig caught himself using Mika’s real name. “err, Sarama, Aya and I talked at length about how we could get the people together. We think you can help us.” Cig said calmly.</p><p>A moment of silence followed. Cig could hear her moving some sort of metal things and opening and closing drawers. Finally, after what felt like forever, Miura gave Cig the clearance. “You can come in now. I’m ready.” She said in a slightly more excited tone. She opened the door.</p><p>The room was in a state of chaotic balance. He saw one desk on the far left of the room that was a smattering of robot parts and partially complete robot bodies. The grays in the piles of robot parts and partially completed robot bodies brought back memories of the standard republic protocol droids Cig had familiarity with, and the occasional yellowish-orange colors caused a wariness in Cig’s mind. That was the main color of the battle droids after all.</p><p>As he looked to the middle of the room, he saw three small couches and a holo-screen that was turned off. Several datapads were spread out across a table that sat comfortably centered in between the neat rectangle formed by the screen’s wall and the edges of the three couches. There were some robot parts and at least one robot body spread out across the room’s floor. To the far right of the room was a kitchen area that was not to speak of as well as another desk with a large monitor. The monitor obviously was attached to some sort of terminal computer system.</p><p>Miura emerged from a door on the right side of the room. He could see her smiling at him. “Welcome to my humble little place Zan—” She hesitated. Cig felt bad for showing up. “You know, If it makes you feel better, you can call me any name other than I gave when we met.” Cig said.</p><p>He could see Miura tilting her head ponderously in the distance. She took a breath. “Um, Audinari, I think.”</p><p>Cig nodded. “Great, thank you for your hospitality, Miura!” Cig said.</p><p>Cig gradually made his way through the room, taking extreme care not to step on any robots or parts. As he walked through the room, he found himself speaking. “Sarama didn’t insinuate that you were doing this. I’ve never known anyone who actually makes droids!” Cig said excitedly. “Well now you know one. “ Miura said, as if mocking him. She laughed. Cig followed suit.</p><p>Miura directed Cig to the middle couch. It was long enough to fit them and two more people. He sat. Miura did not. “So, Audinari, can I get you anything?” She asked. “No thank you, It’s fine.” Cig responded.</p><p>Miura proceeded to sit to the left of Cig, in the middle of the couch. Miura adjusted herself and looked at Cig. “What brought you here, after all?” Miura asked. Cig arched his neck to look at Miura. “Well, the Empire. If you know what it is. They’re driving good people to the fringes of the galaxy.” Cig said, gradually feeling more melancholy. Miura shifted up in her seat. She took a long breath. “Reminds me of something a little closer to home.” Miura shuddered. “What is the Empire’s stance on slavery?” Miura asked cautiously. Cig mused. “They are not necessarily opposed to it. They are occupying Kashyyyk as we speak.” Cig sighed. Miura began to regress into a more compact position. “I wanted the Empire to draw out The Ferrokana. Now, I think we should go through with the plan and fight to push the Empire out and ask Ferrokana to let us go.” Miura curled herself up.</p><p>Cig looked at Miura. “What’s bothering you?” He asked. Miura looked up at him again. “Well, my mother was a slave who, unfortunately died on Ferrokana not long after I was born. My father and family say she was a sort of punching bag among the masters because she was beautiful. She was tormented, harassed and abused constantly. She was miserable.” Miura began to cry. “I am told by my friends and random strangers that I am beautiful. I have had one incident, that you know of, where boundaries were crossed. I don’t want that to happen again. A—and I certainly don’t want to go down the sam path as my mother in becoming a lesser being.” Miura got closer to Cig. She put her hand out and insinuated she wanted Ci to put out his hand. She rolled her hand into a fist and laid it atop one of his hands. “Audinari, roll your hand over mine.” Cig complied. She put her other hand over Cig’s rolled hand. “I will fight with you and the rest of my friends. Thank you for coming.” She said, maintaining a strong, commanding eye contact.</p><p>Miura stood up. “Before you go and do whatever you’re doing after me, let me show you a little something.” She said, tilting her head and motioning him to go to the left of the couch. They walked over toward the desk with droids and droid parts. Miura picked up the droid with a grunt. She moved it to the floor, sitting it up against the side of the desk. Cig noticed a shelf above the desk with small blue boxes.</p><p>Miura looked around about the shelf. “Oh, it’s on that side of the shelf.” Mika said under her breath. “Um, would you take the third box from the side of the shelf?” Mika asked. Cig grabbed the third box and put it down on the table in front of him. He put his hands to his side.</p><p>Miura shifted the box towards her end of the table. She carefully took the top off of the bx. This motion revealed a row of seven yellow boxes with printing in fourteen different scripts. Cig read the first one, the one atop all the others, which said: <em>Translation earpiece Size: large</em>. “Take the one closest to you.” Mika said. He did as she asked. He opened the top of the box and took out the compact headset that was a simple earpiece with a mic on it.</p><p>“Press the button on the side of the headset and put it on.” Miura commanded. Cig did that. Next Miura said something incomprehensible to Cig at first, but a moment later, he heard vibrations of sound within the ear that the earpiece was in. “What do you think?” the vibrations said.</p><p>Cig turned his head to face Miura. She wore a white tank top and comfortable looking red lounging shorts. As he moved his eyes up to see her face, he noticed that the lighting accentuated and darkened her blue skin. The areas of her skin exposed by the tank top that would have been under a garment were a couple of shades of blue muted than the rest of her skin. “It’s all good in here, I love the lighting. You’ve put together quite a comfortable place.” Cig said in another language he knew. He saw Miura’s face turn from a ponderous half smile to a full-on smile. “Thank you.” Miura said.</p><p>Miura took off her earpiece and so did Cig. “Cool, isn’t it?” She asked Cig excitedly. Cig nodded “That’s great! You did that on your own?” Miura narrowed her eyes and put her fists at her hips, elbows squared. “I take that as a yes and you take pride in it.” Cig said calmly. Miura took her hands off her hips and laughed. “Sure. I love it when I could take some time and make useful things.” She said.</p><p>Cig smiled back. “I share the same sentiments.”</p><p>They put the earpieces back into their respective boxes and went back to the couch.</p><p>Miura sat and picked up a remote from the table. She used it to turn on the holo-screen. The first image that came up onto the screen was a fair-skinned, brown human wearing dreadlocks. He seemed to be reading news. He was saying something about burning down the forest around one of the cities so that Ferrokana forces could more easily get to the resistance.</p><p>Cig noticed Miura’s face turn from a neutral one to a deep scowl “Blasted Ferrokana!” She yelled. “Not only the people, now you wanna kill all our native animals!” Miura cursed at the screen.</p><p>Cig looked at her with an ambiguously puzzled look. “What kinds of animals live in the forest?” Cig asked. Miura turned to him. “So many,” Miura said. “Everything you can think, big, small, mammals, birds, hybrids, and all the stuff in between.” Miura stretched. She cursed again. She stretched again. She got out o her seat. “Damn it, I’m so tight!” She exclaimed under her breath.</p><p> Cig turned his head. “Are you going to get some more work done?” he asked.</p><p>“No, I’m planning to sleep. I was just lounging when you got here.” Miura responded.</p><p>“Well then,” Cig got up from his seat. He walked towards the door. Upon arriving near the door, Cig looked back at Miura. “I’ll be seeing you tomorrow.” Cig nodded pleasantly. “Yes, I’ll be seeing you as well.” Miura responded. “What room are you staying in?”</p><p>“One-Twenty-five.”</p><p>“Really, they say that room is fit for a king!”  Miura gasped. “I heard it has a hot-tub thing in the refresher. That’s something I need after a long day of work. The jets are really soothing.”</p><p>“Well, I’ll consider it. For now, though, let me get comfortable with it here.”</p><p>“Sure thing. Just let me know.</p><p>Cig walked out of the room. He heard the door close quietly behind him. He began to walk to his room.</p><p>It wasn’t too long before he got to his room. The first thing he noticed in his room was the bag he had been separated from. He picked it up and opened it. It was as he left it. His lightsaber, his recorder and everything else. A feeling of relief came upon him.</p><p>He looked through the room. The soft whitish-yellow lighting showed through a majority of the room. The golden-white walls glowed in the light and were accentuated by it. It was wide open, with the back wall composed exclusively of a wide window. The setting sun just beyond the forest horizon was in view and was simply majestic!</p><p>Cig picked his recorder out of the bag, closing it and setting it back down on the chair which he found it on.</p><p>He walked deeper into the room. Across the left wall was a series of paintings and holo-frames of various people. Most of them had Freiar in some capacity. Closer to the back window was a large bed with pillows and amenities to match the extremely muted gold colors present of the rest of the room. He swiveled his head to the right, the room seemed to be around fifteen meters across—or slightly more.  To the right were several doors. The door furthest into the room led outside to a balcony. There was a window that overlooked the balcony which connected to the wall window. He walked towards it.</p><p>As he neared the window, he noticed that the place they were at was perched upon a mountain overlooking the forest. The now dark green treetops looked far enough away to be at a smaller scale than he expected. He looked closer. There was a small road coming towards him and emerging out of the forest. He was truly surrounded by the forest, since even though the city he was in covered the trees behind it, the trees seemed to surround him in the distance.</p><p>Looking to the other side, he saw two other windows. One was what looked like the refresher and another looked like a kitchen and other living area. He saw he same walls in each room as he saw in the main room. “Wow, there’s even Miura’s hot tub in that refresher!” Cig caught himself speaking out loud.</p><p>Cig walked towards the bed. Beside the bed, he saw another door. He pressed a button near the door and it opened with a sizzle and a beep.</p><p>This room was a closet filled with clothes! So many different options in Cig’s style. Cig’s favorite types of robes were even there! He was ready for the next few days.</p><p>He walked out of the closet, closed it and plopped himself onto the bed. He rolled over to the side closest to the window. The table there was perfect for putting down his recorder.</p><p>The room was truly built for a king!</p>
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<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Vision</h2></a>
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    <em>Holo-Journal Entry 756: Day 2650 of [Exile](?)</em>
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    <em>My situation is confusing. I have a burden on my hands. I must achieve balance and lead many people in union to a peaceful disunion from an oppressive empire. I don’t know why I was the one they picked, per se. Afterall, I am just a normal guy who just so happens to be able to call on the Force and harness it for the better of the Galaxy.</em>
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    <em>On the other hand, Mika. She remembers me. She somehow still does. Her feelings are strong for me. They feel stronger than when I left the recovery rooms at the Jedi Temple all of the way back when. I’m concerned that the death of Master Sarankar threw her off course. I fear that she will drive for the worst and I won’t be able to pull her back up again. </em>
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    <em>We’ll see how the rest of this goes and if we all make it out.</em>
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    <em>[End]</em>
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</p><p><em>Beep.</em> The recorder quickly transitioned to its compact form. And he threw it towards the other side of the bed. “Why me? Why did it have to be me? Trillions of others could have been chosen. I—” Cig groaned. “I did not want to fight. I just wanted to be in peace.”</p><p>Cig hobbled himself off of the bed and walked towards the closet. He changed himself into some silken pants and went out to the balcony. He looked down. <em>Hmm, desert king aesthetic, I like it, but it won’t do for ever. </em>Cig thought. He stared into the forest. <em>It’s so vast and all-encompassing. I want to go in and see where it takes me. I want to disappear. </em>Cig sighed deeply. He looked up into the sky. He quickly looked back into the forest.</p><p><em>Is that something?</em> <em>A voice? Who? Why?</em></p><p>Cig closed his eyes and tried to focus on the voice, He ended up drifting off.</p><p>He drifted into a void of pure bliss. A peaceful place untouched by any other beings. The voice grew closer. “Son,” the voice echoed. <em>Son? My father is here? </em>“come to me. I will show you the way to end this planet’s misery. I will show you the peace you have desired.” <em>Where do I go? </em>“Search your feelings and you will find me.” <em>Why am I even here? </em>“It’s your job to determine that. Maybe there is no reason whatsoever, or you are meant to check someone. Maybe even to give someone a great gift.”</p><p>The void turned into a wet marsh. Cig was walking through it. He saw his former friends lying dead or dying on ether side. He walked deeper in, hearing rapid and ever deepening blaster fire. As he kept going deeper and deeper, he saw Mika lying cold and dying on the floor in front of him. He ran to her.</p><p>
  <em>You’ll be fine, I’m here now.</em>
</p><p>“I’m afraid not.” She coughed violently and raised her hands off her chest. There was a large hole in her chest with brown on the outside of it. The hole was clear through her chest and halfway through the entire body. Burnt organs were clearly visible.</p><p>
  <em>No, I can do it. </em>
</p><p>He put his hand on the massive gaping wound. He called out to the Force. Mika pressed her hands down on the chest. She shrieked in pain and breathed hard. “It’s getting—”</p><p>Mika’s body disappeared. <em>What? </em>Cig was distraught. His eyes twitched and the rest of his body shook.</p><p>As he continued down the marsh, He continued to see many people meeting gruesome fates. Explosions, blasters, fire, and torture came to those he saw. He heard voices crying out for help. All of them were silenced eventually.</p><p>“The planet will consume you if you’re not careful.” The dominant voice went on. “And the weapon entrusted to you will bring you to your knees. You will be slave to it. Please. Resist.” Cig could only nod in agreement.</p><p>He made his way to an end of the marsh. He looked out into the nothingness ahead of him. He pondered.</p><p>Suddenly, a hand tapped him. He went cold and flinched. He turned around. It was Mika. She was beautiful, beyond anything he had imagined. <em>When did you get that—</em>. He had a moment of realization. He paned from head to toe. He saw her radiant headband which seemed to keep her hair in some sort of gravity-defying hairstyle. It was curly yet well done up. She wore a skin-tight black dress. She had a bulge that showed from the abdominal area of the dress. “So, are you coming?” <em>Where? “Home of course.” Home? </em>“We live together of course!” he looked down then looked back up at her. <em>Am I a--? </em>She interrupted “Of course, you dimwit.” She laughed and grabbed his hand on her abdomen. “Feel that, he’s an adventurer like you, I know it.” Mika paused and breathed.“I’m due in a few days!” She exclaimed, pulling at Cig’s hand “Come on!” She pulled at him harder, yet he did no move much.</p><p>It turned out that someone was pulling at his shoulder. A man with weaved dreadlocks, a shoulder pauldron, toned muscles and a loincloth was holding his shoulder in one hand and a spear in the other. “Commander,” He bowed his head. “please come with us, pleas lead us and help to control the forests.” <em>Commander? </em>“Yes.” A woman appeared. She was similarly bare chested as her male counterpart, but her flowing ash red hair covered her chest modestly enough to look pleasant. She also wore a headdress and necklace to accent her hair. “Come with us. Be here and sow <em>magical heirs of power</em> into our High Court. Give me the mage I need to rule the entire forest. We can all rule together!” She said, looking deep into his eyes. Her eyes were the color of darkness and felt cold and empty.</p><p>
  <em>I can’t do any of this. I was meant to follow the teachings. I was meant to follow the Force!</em>
</p><p>“You were also meant to take action. Find the flaws in your ideology. Reconcile them. Act. Find your path. Take it.” The commanding voice said. “Be wary of the things around you, beware of Dark.”</p><p>Something pulled him from under his legs. “Or you die!” The voice said. The hands kept pulling at him.</p><p>Mika looked at him, as if pleading to come to her. She pulled even more violently. The man held even firmer. The woman frowned and put her fists upon her hips. Cig tried to throw a jab at the man. His face turned from calm to a look of pleading. <em>Please let me go. I don’t think I want either reality. I want peace. </em></p><p>Mika glared at him. “We have been together for more time than I’d like to bring you up on. Plus, you enjoy my company and my touch. Please come back home.” She frowned.</p><p>
  <em>I just don’t know if I want either right now. I just thought I’d be free to choose a life that was free of the past. I don’t want to relive the war anymore. </em>
</p><p>All voices talked simultaneously. “You were bred for this. Go do what you were meant to and you may do what you want after.” They all said.</p><p>Cig was pulled down by the hands and fell out of the marsh. There was a sudden crack.</p><p>
  <em>Back to reality.</em>
</p><p>Cig had a momentary consciousness. It faded fast. He fell to the floor dead tired, He was out.</p>
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